si·moom  (sĭ-mōōm')  n. A strong, hot, sand-laden wind of the Sahara and Arabian deserts: "Stephen's heart had withered up like a flower of the desert that feels the simoom coming from afar" (James Joyce). Also called samiel. [Arabic samūm, from samma, to poison, from Aramaic sammā, drug, poison; see šmm in Semitic roots.] |