thunderstroke

American  

[thuhn-der-strohk] / ˈθʌn dərˌstroʊk /

noun

1. a stroke of lightning accompanied by thunder.

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Etymology

Origin of thunderstroke

First recorded in 1580–90; thunder + stroke ¹

Example Sentences

"It is one of the mysteries of nature," he said in 1906, after his favorite daughter Susy died of meningitis at 24, "that a man, all unprepared, can receive a thunderstroke like that and live."

From Time Magazine Archive

This fell on the province with the power and rapidity of a thunderstroke; it made no cry, no movement; Bretagne expired.

From The Regent's Daughter by Dumas père, Alexandre

My father was then in the zenith of his prosperity, and was absorbed in his affairs; yet this loss—this heavy blow—came upon him like a thunderstroke.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 54, No. 335, September 1843 by Various

Elijah thought, that, if Jackson had not been killed by his own men after delivering that thunderstroke, Hooker would have been annihilated.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 99, January, 1866 by Various

This was a thunderstroke to the unfortunate cavalier.

From The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 3 by Whymper, Frederick