View synonyms for sheet lightning

sheet lightning

noun

lightning appearing merely as a general illumination over a broad area, usually because the path of the flash is obscured by clouds.

sheet lightning

lightning that appears as a broad sheet, caused by the reflection of more distant lightning

sheet lightning

/ shēt /

A broad, sheetlike illumination of a portion of a thundercloud, caused by an unseen, often internal or reflected lightning flash.
See also heat lightningSee more at lightning

First recorded in 1820–30

On which a shivering of eagerness, quick as winking sheet-lightning, shook Harris' right knee.

He turned again to the judge with a smile that played like sheet lightning over his haggard face and inquired humbly.

The white sheet lightning was still pulsing in the sky and rising, as it seemed, out of the sea, but I hardly saw it.

Sheet-lightning flickers above the mountain crests, painting everything white for an instant.

Across the stars was a dark veil, riven at long intervals with the copper of sheet lightning.

April 18, 2024petrichor

[pet-ri-kawr]

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