[thuhn-der] 
| 1. | a loud, explosive, resounding noise produced by the explosive expansion of air heated by a lightning discharge. |
| 2. | any loud, resounding noise: the thunder of applause. |
| 3. | a threatening or startling utterance, denunciation, or the like. |
| 4. | to give forth thunder (often used impersonally with it as the subject): It thundered last night. |
| 5. | to make a loud, resounding noise like thunder: The artillery thundered in the hills. |
| 6. | to utter loud or vehement denunciations, threats, or the like. |
| 7. | to speak in a very loud tone. |
| 8. | to move or go with a loud noise or violent action: The train thundered through the village. |
| 9. | to strike, drive, inflict, give forth, etc., with loud noise or violent action. |
| 10. | steal someone's thunder,
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| thun·der (thŭn'dər) n.
v. intr.
To express violently, commandingly, or angrily; roar. [Middle English, from Old English thunor; see (s)tenə- in Indo-European roots.] thun'der·er n. |
The noise created when air rushes back into a region from which it has been expelled by the passage of lightning.
| thunder (thŭn'dər) Pronunciation Key
The explosive noise that accompanies a stroke of lightning. Thunder is a series of sound waves produced by the rapid expansion of the air through which the lightning passes. Sound travels about 1 km in 3 seconds (about 1 mi in 5 seconds). The distance between an observer and a lightning flash can be calculated by counting the number of seconds between the flash and the thunder. See Note at lightning. |