a visible collection of particles of water or ice suspended in the air, usually at an elevation above the earth's surface.
2.
any similar mass, esp. of smoke or dust.
3.
a dim or obscure area in something otherwise clear or transparent.
4.
a patch or spot differing in color from the surrounding surface.
5.
anything that obscures or darkens something, or causes gloom, trouble, suspicion, disgrace, etc.
6.
a great number of insects, birds, etc., flying together: a cloud of locusts obscuring the sun.
–verb (used with object)
7.
to overspread or cover with, or as with, a cloud or clouds: The smoke from the fire clouded the sun from view.
8.
to overshadow; obscure; darken: The hardships of war cloud his childhood memories.
9.
to make gloomy.
10.
(of distress, anxiety, etc.) to reveal itself in (a part of one's face): Worry clouded his brow.
11.
to make obscure or indistinct; confuse: Don't cloud the issue with unnecessary details.
12.
to place under suspicion, disgrace, etc.
13.
to variegate with patches of another color.
–verb (used without object)
14.
to grow cloudy; become clouded.
15.
(of a part of one's face) to reveal one's distress, anxiety, etc.: His brow clouded with anger.
—Idioms
16.
in the clouds,
a.
in a condition of absent-mindedness; lost in reverie.
b.
impractical: Their schemes are usually up in the clouds.
17.
on a cloud, Informal. exceedingly happy; in high spirits: On the night of the prom the seniors were on a cloud.
18.
under a cloud, in disgrace; under suspicion: After going bankrupt he left town under a cloud.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE clūd rock, hill; prob. akin to clod]
—Related forms
cloudlike, adjective
—Synonyms 1. vapor. 6. swarm, horde, multitude, throng, host, crowd, army. 16.Cloud,fog,haze,mist differ somewhat in their figurative uses. Cloud connotes esp. daydreaming: His mind is in the clouds. Fog and haze connote esp. bewilderment or confusion: to go around in a fog (haze). Mist has an emotional connotation and suggests tears: a mist in one's eyes. 11. muddle, distort.
O.E. clud "mass of rock," from P.Gmc. *kludas, metaphoric extension 13c. based on similarity of cumulus clouds and rock masses. O.E. word for "cloud" was weolcan.Cloudy is O.E. cludig (in the rock sense), in the water vapor sense, c.1300. Cloudburst (1817, Amer.Eng.) parallels Ger. Wolkenbruch. The imaginary city Cloud Cuckoo Land, built in air, is from Aristophanes' Nephelokokkygia in "The Birds" (414 B.C.E.). Cloud nine is 1950s, Amer.Eng., of uncertain origin or significance. There was a similar association of cloud seven, but some connect the phrase with the 1896 International Cloud-Atlas, long the basic source for cloud shapes, in which, of the ten cloud types, cloud No. 9, cumulonimbus, was the biggest, puffiest, most comfortable-looking.
any collection of particles (e.g., smoke or dust) or gases that is visible
2.
a visible mass of water or ice particles suspended at a considerable altitude
3.
out of touch with reality; "his head was in the clouds"
4.
a cause of worry or gloom or trouble; "the only cloud on the horizon was the possibility of dissent by the French"
5.
suspicion affecting your reputation; "after that mistake he was under a cloud"
6.
a group of many things in the air or on the ground; "a swarm of insects obscured the light"; "clouds of blossoms"; "it discharged a cloud of spores" [syn: swarm]
verb
1.
make overcast or cloudy; "Fall weather often overcasts our beaches" [syn: overcast] [ant: brighten]
2.
make less visible or unclear; "The stars are obscured by the clouds"; "the big elm tree obscures our view of the valley" [syn: obscure]
3.
billow up in the form of a cloud; "The smoke clouded above the houses"
4.
make gloomy or depressed; "Their faces were clouded with sadness"
5.
place under suspicion or cast doubt upon; "sully someone's reputation" [syn: defile]
6.
make less clear; "the stroke clouded memories of her youth"
7.
colour with streaks or blotches of different shades [syn: mottle]
8.
make milky or dull; "The chemical clouded the liquid to which it was added"
A visible body of very fine water droplets or ice particles suspended in the atmosphere at altitudes ranging up to several miles above sea level. Clouds are formed when air that contains water vapor cools below the dew point.
A distinguishable mass of particles or gas, such as the collection of gases and dust in a nebula.
Cloud County, KS (county, FIPS 29) Location: 39.48284 N, 97.65591 W Population (1990): 11023 (5198 housing units) Area: 1853.6 sq km (land), 7.4 sq km (water)
Cloud Lake, FL (town, FIPS 13050) Location: 26.67470 N, 80.07359 W Population (1990): 121 (63 housing units) Area: 0.2 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
White Cloud, KS (city, FIPS 77850) Location: 39.97420 N, 95.29724 W Population (1990): 255 (127 housing units) Area: 1.9 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 66094
White Cloud, MI (city, FIPS 86680) Location: 43.55292 N, 85.77265 W Population (1990): 1147 (478 housing units) Area: 5.0 sq km (land), 0.2 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 49349
Saint Cloud, WI Zip code(s): 53079
Red Cloud, NE (city, FIPS 40920) Location: 40.08610 N, 98.52232 W Population (1990): 1204 (638 housing units) Area: 2.6 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 68970
Saint Cloud, MN Zip code(s): 56301, 56303, 56304
Saint Cloud, FL Zip code(s): 34769, 34771, 34772, 34773
St. Cloud, MN (city, FIPS 56896) Location: 45.55395 N, 94.17036 W Population (1990): 48812 (18828 housing units) Area: 37.6 sq km (land), 1.2 sq km (water)
St. Cloud, MO (village, FIPS 64172) Location: 38.17252 N, 91.21256 W Population (1990): 59 (27 housing units) Area: 2.8 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
St. Cloud, WI (village, FIPS 70500) Location: 43.82261 N, 88.16730 W Population (1990): 494 (190 housing units) Area: 2.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
St. Cloud, FL (city, FIPS 62625) Location: 28.24179 N, 81.28981 W Population (1990): 12453 (5996 housing units) Area: 19.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Cir"rus\, n.; pl. Cirri. [L., lock, curl, ringlet.] [Also written cirrhus.]1. (Bot.) A tendril or clasper. 2. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A soft tactile appendage of the mantle of many Mollusca, and of the parapodia of Annelida. Those near the head of annelids are Tentacular cirri; those of the last segment are caudal cirri. (b) The jointed, leglike organs of Cirripedia. See Annelida, and Polych[ae]ta. Note: In some of the inferior animals the cirri aid in locomotion; in others they are used in feeding; in the Annelida they are mostly organs of touch. Some cirri are branchial in function. 3. (Zo["o]l.) The external male organ of trematodes and some other worms, and of certain Mollusca. 4. (Meteor.) See under Cloud.
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