thunderhead
Americannoun
-
the upper portion of a cumulus cloud characterized by dense, sharply defined, cauliflowerlike upper parts and sometimes by great verticality.
noun
Etymology
Origin of thunderhead
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Once a prehistoric denizen of the deeps, it comes ashore on a tsunami tide, tall as a thunderhead, shrugging off artillery as it bellows a foghorn scream.
From Scientific American • Nov. 3, 2023
Like a thunderhead, the huge cloud spawned lightning strikes, worrying firefighters because of their potential to start new fires.
From New York Times • Jul. 19, 2021
If the pilot of QZ5801 saw a massive thunderhead dead ahead, and was concerned enough to request a change in his flight path, then maybe he should have gone ahead and diverted, even without permission.
From Slate • Dec. 29, 2014
Early that morning, a towering thunderhead had rumbled in from the east, stripping branches from the cottonwoods and flooding the streets of Oklahoma City.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 1, 2014
Then came another flash of lightning, and this time the jagged fork struck down direct from the thunderhead at one of the zeppelins.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
