tonitro-, tonitru-
(Latin: thunder)
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.
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."
Sometimes the term is used in a figurative way: "The news of the politician revealing his naked body on the internet shocked his supporters like a thunderbolt."
2. Reverberating with the sound of thunder
2. Devices used in theaters or movies to create thunder.
2. A short-lived but severe windstorm, especially one that occurs on the West African coast.
3. A state of frenzied activity or intense emotion, or someone in such a state.
4. Etymology: from 1556, a navigator's word for violent windy thunderstorm in the tropical Atlantic, probably a borrowing from Spanish tronada, "thunderstorm", from tronar, "to thunder"; from Latin tonare, "to thunder".
Tornadoes occur chiefly during thunderstorms. If the tip of the funnel touches the ground, it can cause extensive damage.
A tornado becomes visible when a condensation funnel made of water vapor (a funnel cloud) forms in extreme low pressures, or when the tornado lifts dust, dirt, and debris upward from the ground.
A mature tornado may be columnar or tilted, narrow or broad; sometimes so broad that it appears as if the parent thundercloud itself had descended to ground level.
Cross references of word groups that are related, directly or indirectly, to: "lightning and/or thunder": astrapo-; bronto-; cerauno-, kerauno-; fulgur-.