You searched for: “thunder
thunder (s), thunders (pl) (noun forms)
1. A booming or crashing noise caused by air expanding along the path of a bolt of lightning.
2. Noise resembling thunder; such as, a loud deep rumbling noise resembling thunder.
3. A manifestation of someone's anger in an explosion of strong words.
4. Etymology: from Middle English thuner, later thunder which came from Old English þunor, from Proto German thunraz, "to resound", "to thunder". It is also believed to be from a distant Latin tonare, "to thunder", tonitrus, "thunder".

Thunder is the sound emitted by rapidly expanding gases along the channel of a lightning discharge. Over three-quarters of lightning's electrical discharge is used in heating the gases in the atmosphere in and immediately around the visible channel.

Temperatures can rise to over 10,000 degrees centigrade in microseconds, resulting in a violent pressure wave, composed of compression and rarefaction.

The rumble of thunder is created as one's ear catches other parts of the discharge, the part of the lightning flash nearest registering first, then the parts farther away.

This entry is located in the following unit: tonitro-, tonitru- (page 1)
thunder, thunders, thundered, thundering (verb forms)
1. To produce thunder: "It was raining and thundering all night which made it difficult to sleep."
2. To make a loud sound like that of thunder: "The guns thundered in the distance as the rebels were being attacked by the country's military forces." 3. To move in a way which makes a loud sound: "Trucks thundered by the motel even during the night."
4. To shout something with loud approval or disapproval: "The crowd thundered its approval of what the speaker suggested could be a solution to the poor economic situation."
This entry is located in the following unit: tonitro-, tonitru- (page 1)
Units related to: “thunder
(Greek: thunder)
(Greek: thunderbolt, thunder, lightning [literally, "smasher, crusher"])
(Latin: thunder)
(Modern Latin: named for Thor, the Norse god of thunder; radioactive metal)
(Latin: to shine, to flash, to glow, to burn; fulmi-, lightning, thunder forth, denounce; related to fulg-)