| 释义 |
▪ I. thunder, n.|ˈθʌndə(r)|
Forms: α. 1 þunor, -er; 2–3 dat. þunre, 3–5 þonre; 4 thonir, -yr(e, -ure, thunure, thonner, -ere, -ir, 4–5 thoner, -or, 5 thonere, thonour, thouner, thownyr, 6–9 Sc. and north. dial. thunner. β. 3 ðhunder, 3–4 þondre, 3–5 þonder, 3–6 thundre, 4 þundir, thundir, 4–5 þunder, þondir, -ur, 4–6 thonder, thondre, thoundre (6 -ir), 5 þundre, thundyr, thwndur, thondour, (dondyr), 5–6 thondir, Sc. thwndyr, 9 s.w. dial. thinder, 5– thunder.
[OE. þunor, ME. þoner, etc. (later þonder, etc. with epenthetic d) = OFris. thuner, OS. thuner, (MDu., Du. donder), OHG. donar (MHG. doner, G. donner), ON. þórr, (:—*þonr-: cf. Da. torden, Sw. tordön ‘Thor's din’):—OTeut. *þonar-oz f. Indo-Eur. ablaut series *ten, ton, tn to stretch, resound, whence Skr. tan to sound, L. tonāre to thunder; cf. Skr. stan to sound, sigh, thunder, Gr. στέν-ειν to groan. (The -on- in ME. was the usual way of writing -un-, to avoid confusion.)]
1. a. The loud noise accompanying a flash of lightning (apparently following it, being heard after it at an interval depending on distance), due to the sudden violent disturbance of the air by the electric discharge; varying from a sharp report or crash to a prolonged roll or reverberation. Also, the unseen cause of the phenomenon, the meteorological condition or action (scientifically, the electric storm and discharge) from which the loud noise proceeds.
The popular use vaguely includes the phenomenon and its cause.
α [c725Corpus Gloss. (O.E.T.) 1152 Jovem, þuner.] a800Riddles xlvii. 22 (Gr.) Stefne ðunures micles. c950Lindisf. Gosp. John xii. 29 Ðe here forðon ðio stod & ᵹeherde cuoedun ðuner þætte auorden. c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 280 Swa hattra sumor, swa mara ðunor & liᵹet on ᵹeare. c1175Lamb. Hom. 43 Heore eþem scean swa deð þe leit a-monge þunre. a1300Cursor M. 22143 Thoner o-loft fal sal he gar. c1325Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 160 Tonere, thonner. a1340Hampole Psalter lxxvi[i]. 17 [18] Þe voice of þi thunure in whele. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxi. 140 We ware..striken doune to þe erthe with grete hidous blastez of wind and of thouner. 1483Cath. Angl. 384/1 A Thonour, tonitruus. Ibid. 387/2 A Thownyr. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxvii. 35 Ane rak of fartis lyk ony thunner. 1816Scott Old Mort. xxxvii, Rather than ye suld ride on in the rain and thunner.
βc1250Ðhunder [see b]. c1290St. Brendan 473 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 232 Gret betynge and noyse i-nouȝ, þondre ase þei it were. c1384Chaucer H. Fame ii. 100 The god of thonder Whiche that men callen Iupiter. c1460Brut 510 A gret tempest of thondre & lightenyng. c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 802/1 Hic tonitrus, thwndur. 1549Compl. Scot. vi. 59 The thoundir is ane corrupt fume generit on the eird. 1595Shakes. John v. ii. 173 A drumme..That shall..mocke the deepe mouth'd Thunder. 1753Hogarth Anal. Beauty xii. 97 By the decreasing noise of thunder, we form the idea of its moving further from us. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. viii. [ix.], The cloud..began now, by one or two distant peals, to announce the thunders with which it was fraught. 1858Stanley Sinai & Pal. ii. 124 The thunder, heard, not..in short and broken peals, but in one continuous roll. Mod. It is a sultry day; I think there must be thunder about. The farmer's wife says that the thunder turns the milk.
b. Regarded as the destructive agent producing the effects usually attributed to the lightning; (with a and pl.) a thunderstroke or ‘thunderbolt’. Now only poet. or rhet. (exc. fig.).
c893K. ælfred Oros. iv. ii. §1 Þunor tosloᵹ heora hieh⁓stan godes hus. Ibid. vi. xxix, Hiene ofsloᵹ an þunor. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1108 Oc siðen loth wente ut of hine, Brende it ðhunder, sanc it erðe-dine. 1390Gower Conf. I. 109 Fro the sky A firy thonder sodeinly He sende, and him to pouldre smot. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) ii. 7 Þer schall na thunder ne na maner of tempest dere him. c1460Towneley Myst. iii. 346 Thise thoners and levyn downe gar fall..Castels and towres. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 81 Let thy blowes..Fall like amazing thunder on the Caske Of thy amaz'd pernicious enemy. 1686tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 209 The Thunder had thrown down a good part of it. 1707Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 243 The Thunder fell upon her, and kill'd her out-right. 1751MacSparran Diary (1899) 61 The Thunder struck Col. Northrup. 1769Cook Voy. round World ii. ii. (1773) 304 To acquaint them that we had weapons which, like thunder, would destroy them in a moment. 1820Shelley Vis. Sea 61 Six the thunder has smitten, And they lie black as mummies.
c. (with a and pl.) A peal of thunder, a thunder-clap. Now only poet. or rhet.
c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 280 Þa þuneras..on apocalipsin synd gastlice to understandenne. a1300Cursor M. 18124 Þar come a mikel steuen, Als it a thoner war of heuen. 1382Wyclif Rev. x. 3 Whan he hadde cried, seuen thundres spaken her voices. 1601Holland Pliny ii. xliii. 21 Thunders are nothing els but the blows and thumps given by the fires beating hard upon the clouds. c1665Baxter in Reliq. 23 Apr. an. 1661 (1696) 303 As they were returning from Westminster-hall, there was very terrible Thunders, when none expected it. 1700Dryden Cymon & Iphigenia 334 The thunders roll, the forky lightning flies. 1842Tennyson Talking Oak 279 Low thunders bring the mellow rain. 1855― Maud ii. iv. 49 And a sullen thunder is roll'd.
d. (with a and pl.) A thunderstorm. Obs. exc. dial.
a1300Cursor M. 6019 Was a weder ful selcut snell, A thonor [v.rr. þondre, thoner, þondur] wit an haile sua kene. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xiv. 65 In somer es þer grete thundres and leightens. c1400Destr. Troy 7619 A thondir with a thicke Rayn thrublit in þe skewes. 1470–85Malory Arthur vii. xxxi. 263 Thenne felle there a thonder and a rayne as heuen and erthe shold goo to gyder. 1623Bingham Xenophon iii. i. 42 It seemed to him, that in a thunder the bolt fell vpon his Fathers House. 1665E. Digges in Phil. Trans. I. 26 Our Country of Virginia is very much subject to Thunders. 1892S. Hewett Peas. Sp. Devon 101, I zim arter thease mizzle us chell 'ave a thinder.
2. transf. Any loud deep rumbling or resounding noise. (Also with a and pl.)
1590Shakes. Mids. N. iv. i. 123, I was with Hercules and Cadmus once, When..they bayed the Beare With hounds of Sparta... I neuer heard So musicall a discord, such sweet thunder. 1595― John i. i. 26 The thunder of my Cannon shall be heard. 1611Bible Job xxxix. 25 He smelleth the battaile afarre off, the thunder of the captaines, and the shouting. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. xvi. §245 One continued thunder of Cannon. c1800H. K. White Poems (1837) 143 Let the pealing organ play; And, while the harmonious thunders roll [etc.]. 1807–8Syd. Smith Plymley's Lett. vii. Wks. 1859 II. 162/2 Thunders of applause from the pit and the galleries. 1847Tennyson Princ. ii. 452 The great organ..rolling thro' the court A long melodious thunder. 1887Bowen Virg. Eclogue v. 83 The thunder of surf on the shore.
3. fig.
a. Threatening, terrifying, or strongly impressive utterance; awful denunciation, menace, censure, or invective, ‘fulmination’; vehement or powerful eloquence. (sing. and pl.)
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 288 Drede we nouȝt þis þondir, for it turneþ aȝen & cursiþ þe welle þat it come fro. c1540Nisbet N.T. in Scot. Prol. Romans (S.T.S.) III. 332 But the spret mon first cum,..and with the thwndyr of the lawe feare him. 1693G. Stepny in Dryden's Juvenal viii. (1697) 197 Who felt the Thunder of the States Decree. 1712Addison Spect. No. 407 ⁋1 Pouring out the Thunder of his Rhetorick. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxi. (1869) I. 591 He directed the thunders of the church against heresy. 1852C. M. Yonge Cameos I. xxvii. 220 The barons..thought little of the thunders of the Pope. 1879Farrar St. Paul ii. viii. (1883) 117 Something..made him [Stephen]..hurl in their faces the gathered thunder of his wrath and scorn.
b. In phrases denoting great force or energy (chiefly in versions or imitations of the Scriptures).
1535Coverdale Job xxvi. 14 Who can perceaue and vnderstonde y⊇ thondre of his power? 1611Bible Job xxxix. 19 Hast thou clothed his necke with thunder? 1754Gray Poesy 106 With necks in thunder cloath'd, and long resounding pace. 1796E. Hamilton Lett. Hindoo Rajah (1811) I. 83 One of their ships of war, a huge edifice, whose sides were clothed with thunder. 1818,1887[see thunder-maned, -shod below].
c. struck with thunder = thunderstruck 2 a. rare—1.
1823Scott Quentin D. xxiv, ‘I am struck with thunder!’ said Crèvecœur. ‘Liege in insurrection!—..the Bishop murdered!’
d. Fig. phr. to steal (someone's) thunder: to use the ideas, policies, etc., devised by another person, political party, etc., for one's own advantage or to anticipate their use by the originator.
Derived from the utterance of John Dennis (1657–1734), ‘Damn them!..they will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder,’ on hearing the stage thunder produced by a method designed for his own play of Appius & Virginia being used for a performance of Macbeth. (Spence quoted in W. S. Walsh Lit. Curios. (1893) 1052; cf. Pope's note on Dunciad ii. 223.)
1900E. E. Peake Darlingtons iii. 23 You must all remember that papa had stolen my thunder. 1911Beerbohm Zuleika Dobson ix. 144 ‘Happy maid!’ he murmured. Zuleika replied that he was stealing her thunder: hadn't she envied the girl at his lodgings? 1931Time & Tide 12 Sept. 1049 Sir Oswald Mosley's exploit was to steal a little of the protectionist thunder temporarily abandoned by the Conservatives. 1937‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier xii. 222 It is important..to disregard the jealousy of the modern literary gent who hates science because science has stolen literature's thunder. 1973A. Broinowski Take One Ambassador ii. 19 He would have been watching the returns in the Senate elections I guess. This'll steal a bit of their thunder, that's for sure.
4. slang or colloq. Used vaguely in exclamations, imprecations, and expletive or intensive phrases.
1709–10Steele Tatler No. 137 ⁋3 Thunder, Furies, and Damnation! I'll cut your Ears off. 1826Massachusetts Spy 23 Aug. (Th.), The bull roared like thunder! I split like lightning! 1834C. A. Davis Lett. J. Downing xxxiii. 274 He turned..and giv me a look as black as thunder. 1841H. Greeley in R. W. Griswold Passages from Corr. (1898) 94 Why in thunder did you go off on Saturday without seeing me? 1842S. Lover Handy Andy xxv, ‘Thunder and turf!’ said the drunken giant. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. vii. 95 Go to thunder, gal! 1854M. J. Holmes Tempest & Sunshine xv. 204 Don't none on you tread on my corns for thunder's sake. 1867H. J. Daniel Muse in Motley 25 He'll screech like thoonder, iss he will. 1876E. W. Heap Diary 24 Nov. in Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. (1969) lii. 55 Every paper around is giving the road Thunder. 1891C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 66 Why in thunder, if you were hungry, did you not come and tell me? 1894A. Robertson Nuggets, etc. 79 Where in thunder did he get the money? 1916G. B. Shaw Pygmalion v. 188 Of course they do. Then what in thunder are we quarrelling about? 1920E. O'Neill Beyond Horizon i. ii. 48 You kin go to thunder, Jim Mayo! 1927― Marco Millions ii. i. 102 War is a waste of money which eats into the profits of life like thunder! 1940W. Faulkner Hamlet i. iii. 77 What in thunder are you fellows up to over at Varner's?
5. attrib. and Comb.
a. attrib. Of, as of, pertaining to, or connected with thunder, as thunder-burst, thunder-colour, thunder-crackle, thunder-crash, thunder-fire, thunder-gloom, thunder-place, thunder-psalm, thunder-quake, thunder-rain, thunder-roll, thunder-scar, thunder-sky, thunder-sound, thunder-tent, thunder-throne, thunder-volley, thunder-weather; violent, destructive, or (esp.) loud as thunder, as thunder-blow, thunder-bullet, thunder-curse, thunder-music, thunder-shout, thunder-voice, thunder-yell.
b. objective, etc., as thunder-thrower; thunder-breathing, thunder-forging, thunder-guiding, thunder-ruling, thunder-throning, thunder-throwing, thunder-wielding adjs.; thunder-delighting (delighting in thunder), thunder-fearless, thunder-free, thunder-proof, thunder-rejoicing adjs.; thunder-like adj. and adv.c. instrumental, as thunder-armed, thunder-baffled, thunder-charged, thunder-cloven, thunder-fraught, thunder-girt, thunder-heavy, thunder-hid, thunder-laden, thunder-riven, thunder-scarred, thunder-scathed, thunder-shod, thunder-smitten, thunder-splintered, thunder-split, thunder-splitten, thunder-stormy, thunder-teeming, thunder-thwarted, thunder-tipped adjs.d. parasynthetic and similative, as thunder-browed, thunder-coloured, thunder-footed, thunder-maned, thunder-tongued adjs.; thunder-purple, thunder-red adjs.
1620Middleton & Rowley World Tost at Tennis 221 Imperial-crown'd, and *thunder-armèd Jove.
1819Shelley Prometh. Unb. iii. ii. 12 An eagle..his *thunder-baffled wings Entangled in the whirlwind.
1878B. Taylor Deukalion i. iii. 28 We saw the *thunder-blows Given and taken.
1826E. Irving Babylon II. 380 Our *thunder-breathing ships.
1913J. Masefield Daffodil Fields 44 Full of wrath and *thunder-browed.
1605Tryall Chev. i. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. (1884) III. 276 Lov'dst thou a towne, Ide teach thee how to woo her With words of *thunder-bullets wrapt in fire.
1882Imperial Dict., *Thunder-burst. a1910‘Mark Twain’ Autobiogr. (1924) II. 176, I can remember those awful thunder-bursts and the white glare of the lightning yet. 1939Joyce Finnegans Wake 362 Thunderburst, ravishment, dissolution and providentiality.
1844Lever Tom Burke II. 162 A mass of heavy..clouds, dark and *thunder-charged.
1851H. Melville Moby Dick I. xxvii. 197 The barest..most *thunder-cloven old oak.
1873G. M. Hopkins Jrnls. & Papers (1959) 232 The others [sc. pigeons] are dull *thundercolour or black-grape-colour.
1907R. Brooke Let. Sept. (1968) 106 We have been sitting at an evil café sipping *thunder-coloured coffee from glasses.
1941L. MacNeice Plant & Phantom 20 *Thunder-crackle and the bounce of hail.
1826K. Digby Broadst. Hon. (1846) II. Tancredus 5 The *thunder-crash broke over our heads.
1650Weldon Crt. Jas. I (1817) 31 This dreadful *thunder⁓curse or imprecation. 1839Bailey Festus xix. (1852) 305 As an angel when He hears the thunder-curse of demon foe.
1848Buckley Iliad 15 *Thunder-delighting Jove.
1608Beaum. & Fl. Four Plays in One Induct., Low at your sacred feet our poor muse lays Her, and her *thunder-fearless verdant bayes.
1855Bailey Spir. Leg. in Mystic, etc. 115 Rooted out..with threefold *thunder-fires.
1839― Festus xx. (1852) 343 The *thunder-footed coursers of the sun.
1779R. Potter tr. æschylus (ed. 2) I. 106 The *thunder-forging Cyclopes.
1810S. Rogers To old Oak iv, Many a navy *thunder-fraught.
1841Browning Pippa Passes ii. 59 A Greek, in Athens,..Feasting, bay-filleted and *thunder-free.
1853― Johannes Agric. 14 Ere stars were *thundergirt.
1848Lytton Harold viii. iv, Some *thunder-gloom of thine own destiny. 1868Alex. Smith Last Leaves 154 He could watch the purple thunder-gloom gathering on the distant hills.
1874Geo. Eliot Coll. Breakf. P. 314 Rule Of *thunder-guiding powers.
1922Blunden Bonadventure xii. 68 After the storm, the air was *thunder-heavy all that day.
c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. (1823) lxxxi. iii, *Thunder-hid I answer gave.
1865tr. Strauss's New Life Jesus I. i. xliii. 373 The *thunder-laden Revelation.
1607Shakes. Cor. i. iv. 59 With thy grim lookes, and The *Thunder-like percussion of thy sounds. 1826M. W. Shelley Last Man II. 73 A crash was heard. Thunderlike it reverberated through the sky. 1846Browning Let. 7 Sept., How hot and thunder-like this oppressive air!
1818Milman Samor 50 The *thunder-maned steed.
1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxxvii. ii, I..heard..*thunder-music, rolling, shake The prophets blazon'd on the panes.
1599B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. i. iii, Vnlesse his house and skin were *thunder-proofe. 1733Tull Horse-Hoeing Husb. xiii. 149 The Giants found that even Mountains were not Thunder-Proof. 1822Shelley Chas. I, iv. 58 Through palaces and temples thunderproof.
1821― Epipsych. 465 The wingèd storms, chaunting their *thunder-psalm To other lands.
1879G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 80 The *thunder-purple seabeach plumèd purple-of-thunder.
1940J. Betjeman Coll. Poems (1958) 58 Not Satan's *thunder-quake Can cause the mighty walls of Heaven to shake.
1826Mrs. Hemans Forest Sanctuary i. xiv, Sounds of thickening steps, like *thunder-rain That plashes on the roof. 1926D. H. Lawrence David xi. 78 Till they drop in drops of blood, like thunder-rain, and the land is red.
1949Blunden After Bombing 15 And foam, pearl-pink and *thunder-red.
1848Buckley Iliad 45 In honour of *thunder-rejoicing Jove.
1831Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. viii, The fire-baptised soul, long so scathed and *thunder-riven.
1844Mrs. Browning Rhapsody Life's Progr. v, Let the cloud meet the cloud in a grand *thunder-roll!
1749G. West Hymn of Cleanthes 49 O great father, *thunder-ruling god!
1710Philips Pastorals 2 Yonder naked tree Which bears the *thunder-scar.
1842Sir A. De Vere Song of Faith 198 Cliffs..Wave-worn and *thunder-scarred.
1826J. G. Whittier Writings (1888) IV. App. 303 Where the *thunder-scath'd peaks of Helvetia are frowning. 1846C. G. Prowett Prom. Bound 18 His brawny force All thunder-scathed and cindered.
1887G. Meredith Ballads & P. 78 O for the time when *thunder-shod He champed the grain of the wrath of God.
1863Tyndall Heat vi. §210 The Earth..rang with the *thunder-shout of the liberated prisoner.
1818Scott Br. Lamm. ix. [x.], The heavy and gloomy appearance of the *thunder-sky.
1825J. Neal Bro. Jon. III. 395 The..bare, *thunder-smitten tree.
1886W. B. Yeats Mosada 7 The faint far *thunder-sound.
1810Scott Lady of L. i. xi, A rocky pyramid, Shooting abruptly from the dell Its *thunder-splinter'd pinnacle.
1825J. Wilson Poems II. 39 Like a *thunder-split oak-tree.
1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xlv, The shattered and *thunder-splitten peaks of Arran.
1761Glover Medea iii. vi. 51 No *thunder-teeming cloud.
1818Keats Endym. iii. 27 Ethereal things, that..Can..poise about in cloudy *thunder-tents.
1876G. M. Hopkins Wreck of Deutschland xxxiv, in Poems (1967) 62 Mid-numberèd he [sc. Christ] in three of the *thunder-throne!
a1918W. Owen Poems (1963) 135 That columnar, *thunder-throning cloud.
1614Sylvester Bethulia's Rescue i. 315 Vassals of the *Thunder-Thrower.
1605― Du Bartas ii. iii. iv. Captaines 920 God's *Thunder-throwing hand.
1855Bailey Spir. Leg. in Mystic, etc. 127 Black Babel's *thunder-thwarted pile.
1822T. Mitchell Com. Aristoph. II. 209 Speed With your tongues *thunder-tipt and tell Cleon our need.
1843Carlyle Past & Pr. i. v, It is Fact, speaking..in miraculous *thunder-voice.
a1847Eliza Cook Song Seaweed iii, The *thunder-volley shakes.
13..K. Alis. 3729 (Bodl. MS.) Hij holdeþ hem alle togidre So flok of dere in *þonder wedre. 1900Sutcliffe Shameless Wayne xxiv. 301 This thunner-weather that's coming up.
1816Wordsw. Feelings of French Royalist, The *thunder-wielding hands Of Justice.
1887Bowen Virg. æneid i. 298 Still yelling her *thunder-yells to the blast.
6. Special Combs.: thunder-axe, a popular name in Cornwall for a celt (cf. thunderbolt 3 b); thunder-ball, (a) the electric phenomenon called a fire-ball or globe-lightning; (b) poet. a thunderbolt; (c) the common red poppy (Papaver Rhœas) (dial.); thunder-beat v., trans. ‘to beat with thundering strokes’ (Davies); so thunder-beaten pa. pple.; thunder-beating vbl. n., beating down by thunder-storms; thunder-bird, (a) a species of Australian shrike or thickhead (Pachycephala gutturalis); (b) a mythical bird thought by some primitive tribes to cause thunder; thunderboat U.S., an unlimited hydroplane; † thunder bounce (humorously bombastic), a loud sudden noise like thunder; thunder-bowl, a metal bowl used in a theatre to imitate thunder; thunder-box slang, a portable commode; by extension, any lavatory; thunderbug dial., (a) U.S., a horse-fly; (b) a midge; thunder-carriage, a name for the chariot of the god Thor in early Scandinavian art; † thunder-clover [OE. þunor-clafre], a plant, of doubtful identity; † thunder-dart, a thunderbolt (in art); so † ˈthunder-ˌdarter, the wielder of thunderbolts, ˈthunder-ˌdarting ppl. a.; thunder-dint (arch.), a thunder-stroke; thunder-dirt, name for a gelatinous fungus, Ileodictyon cibarium, eaten by the natives of New Zealand; thunder-drop, one of the large scattered drops of rain which fall at the beginning of a thunder-shower; thunder-drum, (a) a drum used in a theatre to imitate thunder; (b) a fabulous drum represented as the source of thunder; thunder egg N. Amer. and Austral., a geode, esp. of chalcedony; thunder-fish, (a) a siluroid fish of African rivers, Malapterurus electricus, capable of inflicting electric shocks; (b) a European cyprinoid fish, Misgurnus fossilis, which burrows in mud, and comes to the surface before bad weather; also called weather-fish; thunder-fit (nonce-wd.), a shock or sound like thunder; thunder-flash: in military use, a harmless, very noisy, form of explosive; a firework imitating this; † thunder-flone Obs. [flone, flane, arrow], a thunderbolt or thunderstroke; lightning; thunder-flower, a local name for three different plants: (a) the common stitchwort, Stellaria Holostea; (b) the corn poppy, Papaver Rhœas; (c) the white campion, Lychnis vespertina; thunder-fly, a name for the insects of the genus Thrips; thunder-god, the god of thunder; a deity supposed to rule or control the thunder, as Jove in the Roman, or Thor in the Norse mythology; thunder-hammer, a popular name for a celt or other prehistoric implement (cf. thunder-axe); thunder-head, (a) a rounded mass of cumulus cloud seen near the horizon projecting above the general body of cloud, and portending a thunder-storm; hence thunder-headed a., having, or of the nature of, a thunder-head; (b) nonce-use, a large head, as a whale's head; thunder-house, a small model of a house with electric conductors through which a discharge may be passed to illustrate the destructive effects of a thunderstroke; thunder-master, the master or lord of thunder, i.e. Jove; thunder-mug slang = chamber-pot; † thunder-pad (dial.): see quot.; thunder-peal, a peal or resounding clap of thunder; so thunder-pealed pa. pple., uttered loudly as by a thunder-peal; thunder-pick, a local name for a belemnite (cf. thunderbolt 3 a); thunder-plant, a name for the house-leek, Sempervivum tectorum; thunder-plump, chiefly Sc., a heavy and sudden thunder-shower [cf. plump n.3 3]; thunder-pump = next, (a); thunder-pumper, (a) the American bittern, also called pump-thunder; (b) the American fish Haplodinotus grunniens, also called fresh-water drum, croaker, or sheepshead: in both cases from the sounds which they emit; † thunder-rod, a lightning-rod or lightning-conductor (see lightning n. 3 e); thunder run Theatr., two wooden troughs down which iron balls were rolled to imitate thunder; thunder-sheet Theatr., a piece of sheet metal shaken to imitate thunder; † thunder-shot n. Obs., thunderbolts collectively; lightning; † thunder-shot pa. pple. Obs., struck by ‘thunder’ or lightning; thunder-shower, a shower of rain accompanied by thunder and lightning; now chiefly U.S.; thunder-slain pa. pple. (obs. or dial.), struck by ‘thunder’ or lightning; thunder-smite v., trans. to smite as with thunder, to discomfit utterly; † thunder-smith Obs., one who forges thunderbolts: applied to Vulcan, also fig.; thunder-snake, a name for snakes of the genus Ophibolus (also thunder-and-lightning snake), and for the common little worm-snake, Carphiophis amœna, of the U.S.; perh. from their being forced out of their holes by a thunder-shower; thunder stick, a name said to have been given to a rifle or cannon by peoples who did not possess firearms; † thunder-thump n. Obs., ? a thunderbolt; † thunder-thump v. Obs., trans. to thump or beat with thundering strokes; † thunder-thumping ppl. a. Obs., (a) striking with thunder (humorously bombastic); (b) sounding like thunder when beaten, as a drum; also fig. of language, ‘full of sound and fury’; thunder-trunk Theatr., a trunk in which iron balls were rolled to imitate thunder; thunder-tube = fulgurite 1, lightning-tube (lightning n. 3 e); thunder-worm, ‘an amphisbænoid lizard of Florida, Rhineura floridana: so called as forced out of its burrows by a thunder-shower’ (Cent. Dict. 1891). See also thunder and lightning, thunder-blast, etc.
1602Carew Cornwall 82 There are also taken vp in such works certaine little tooles heads of Brasse, which some terme *Thunder-axes. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. viii. 223 The country folk..still hold that the ‘thunder-axes’ they find, once fell from the sky.
1686Goad Celest. Bodies ii. xiv. 351 The *Thunderball..entred the Church. 1819Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. 355 Caves cloven by the thunder-ball. 1889W. B. Yeats Wanderings of Oisin ii. 30 Trembling, on the flags we fall, Fearful of the thunder-ball. 1942L. Bennett Jamaica Dial. Verses 41 Wen..Him tun roun..Him se de sinting two yeye dem A roll like tunder⁓ball... It was a rollin' kealf.
1584Hudson Du Bartas' Judith v. 397 So he them *thunderbet wherso he went.
1669Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 297 Shores..*Thunder-beaten with the Floods.
1560Pilkington Expos. Aggeus (1562) 125 Corn..is subject to many daungers as..*thunder-beating, layde with a raine.
a1827Caley in Trans. Linn. Soc. XV. 239 This species is called *Thunder-bird by the colonists... The natives tell me, that, when it begins to thunder, this bird is very noisy. 1871Tylor Prim. Cult. I. ix. 328 Among Caribs, Brazilians,..Basutos, we find legends of a flapping or flashing Thunder-bird. 1875F. Parkman in N. Amer. Rev. CXX. 40 The thunder-bird is offended,..thunder-storms are occasioned by his anger.
1967Compton Yearbk. 153/2 Through the previous 20 years, only three ‘*thunderboat’ drivers had died in races. 1976Popular Mechanics June 61/1 Officially, they are..hydroplane racing boats... To their hundreds of thousands of fans, they are unlimited hydros, thunderboats, gold cuppers, or just unlimiteds—the fastest racing machines afloat.
1628Ford Lover's Mel. i. i, When blustering Boreas tosseth up the deep, And thumps a *thunder bounce!
1939Auden & Isherwood Journey to War vii. 182 We should wash the dishes and clean the *thunder-boxes. 1952E. Waugh Men at Arms ii. ii. 178 ‘If you must know, it's my thunderbox.’.. He..dragged out the treasure, a brass-bound, oak cube... On the inside of the lid was a plaque bearing the embossed title Connolly's Chemical Closet. 1955N. Fitzgerald House is Falling xi. 188 When the plumber called for instructions, Hapleigh chose the ground floor for the new thunder-box. 1980Daily Tel. 18 Oct. 18 Life in India was..coping with the indignities of the ‘thunder box’ (a portable earth commode) and searching sponges for stealthy scorpions.
1837J. L. Williams Territory of Florida 71 Horse Fly.—..Of these there are five kinds.—1st. the large black, called *thunder bug, an inch long. 1875W. D. Parish Dict. Sussex Dial. 66 Those thunder-bugs did kiddle [sc. tickle] me so. 1974P. Haines Tea at Gunter's xx. 214 Outside the air was still heavy; there were thunderbugs everywhere... I felt them settle on my skin, my hair.
1882Worsaae Industr. Arts Denmark 168 Another type of coarser work..represents Thor..on his *thunder-carriage.
c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 374 ᵹenim..*ðunorclafran blostman [etc.]. c1265Voc. Names Plants in Wr.-Wülcker 558/2 Consolida media, þundreclouere.
1569Spenser Vis. Bellay iv. in Theatre Worldlings, *Thunder dartes for Jove.
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. i. 272 Th' immortall, mighty *Thunder-darter. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. iii. 11.
1601B. Jonson Poetaster v. iii, You shall sweare By *thunder-darting Iove, the King of gods.
c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 1505 How cappaneus the proude With *thonder dynt was slayn. c1440Jacob's Well 100 He was smyten to deth, wyth leuenyng & wyth thunder-dynt. 1808Scott Marm. i. xxiii, The Mount, where Israel heard the law, 'Mid thunder⁓dint, and flashing levin.
1883R. Turner in Gd. Words Sept. 590/1 The gelatinous [fungus] which the New Zealand natives know as ‘*thunder-dirt’.
1832Tennyson Dream Fair Women 122 As *thunder-drops fall on a sleeping sea.
1807–8W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 270 The great *thunder⁓drum has been new braced. 1876Blackie Songs Relig. & Life 175 When Jove beats loud his thunder-drum. 1967Stage 2 Mar. 4/2 (Advt.), Thunder drums, bells, chimes, gongs and effects of every description.
1951W. F. Heald Scenic Guide to Oregon 25 Agate- and opal-filled nodules called ‘*Thunder Eggs’ can be found near Madras. 1962E. Lucia Klondike Kate ix. 187 She never returned empty-handed, hauling back..petrified woods, agates..thundereggs, [etc.]. 1973Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 25 Feb. 14/5 The individual bays of the caravan park are marked off by ‘thunder eggs’ (round stones a foot and more in diameter, many of which contain fossilised fish). 1977Trailer Life July 16/3 ‘Thunder eggs’, the agate-colored nodules familiar to many rockhounds, are a variety of spherulite.
1882Ogilvie (Annandale), *Thunder-fish, a species of fish..found in the Nile, which, like the torpedo, can give an electric shock... The Malapterurus electricus of naturalists. 1886Nature 25 Mar. 497/2 Additions to the Zool. Soc. Gardens..include..a Thunder Fish (Misgurnus fossilis) from Austria.
1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. i. xvii, The ice did split with a *thunder-fit.
1943C. C. Knights What H.G. needs to know about Explosives 10 The only ‘fireworks’ issued to the typical H.G. unit are crackers and *thunder⁓flashes used to give ‘an air of verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing’ exercise. 1959G. Adamson Let. 19 Mar. in J. Adamson Born Free (1960) 139, I went to visit Elsa... I let off three thunder flashes..and..she suddenly appeared. 1977‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon xi. 210 And we did ought to have..used firecrackers and thunderflashes and horns and whistles.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 186 Crist seiþ..þat he saiȝ Saþanas fallinge fro hevene, as þe *þunder floon falliþ fro þe cloude. c1460Towneley Myst. xii. 324 So bright as it shone, I wold haue trowed, veraly, it had bene thoner flone.
1853G. Johnston Bot. E. Bord. 30 About Wooler it [the corn-poppy] was wont to be called *Thunder-flower or Lightnings, and children were afraid to pluck the flower, for if..the petals fell off..the gatherer became more liable to be struck with lightning. 1886Britten & Holland Eng. Plant-n., Thunder-flower. (1) Stellaria Holostea... (2) Papaver Rhœas.—E. Bord. Bot. E. Bord... (3) Lychnis vespertina.—W. Cumb.
1854A. Adams et al. Man. Nat. Hist. 213 The tiny *Thunder-Flies which we often find during the summer in countless multitudes.
1840Carlyle Heroes i. (1872) 33 Thor the *Thundergod changed into Jack the Giant-killer. 1907Q. Rev. July 193 Kari, the thunder-god, who kills the wicked by lightning.
1851H. Melville Moby Dick II. lxxiii. 59 Throw all these *thunder-heads overboard, and then you will float light and right. 1861L. L. Noble Icebergs 138 An iceberg rises..after the figure of a thunderhead. 1879J. Burroughs Locusts & W. Honey 94 A growing storm or thunder-head in the horizon.
1773Henley in Phil. Trans. LXIV. 135 The apparatus known, to electricians, by the name of the *thunder-house. 1887Gumming Electricity treated Exper. 147 An instructive experiment is that known as the Thunder House.
1611Shakes. Cymb. v. iv. 30 No more thou *Thunder-Master shew thy spight on Mortall Flies.
1890Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 347/2 *Thunder-mug (American low), a chamber utensil. 1942D. Gilbert Lost Chords 6 His room furnishings were meager—a rag carpet,..a bowl and pitcher on a washstand whose closet concealed a chamber, or ‘thunder mug’. 1966‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse ii. 108 Thundermug, a chamber-pot.
1700Phil. Trans. XXII. 453 These animals [tadpoles] are known by the vulgar sort of people by the name of *Thunder-pads.
1804J. Grahame Sabbath (1808) 15 *Thunder-peals compelled the men of blood To couch within their dens. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 86 The breaking up of the weather was announced by a thunder-peal.
1878Browning La Saisiaz 150 Truth is truth in each degree—*Thunder-pealed by God to Nature, whispered by my soul to me.
1801Med. Jrnl. XXI. 85 A stone of the calcareous species,..called by the common people *thunder-pick.
1866Treas. Bot. 1148 *Thunder plant, Sempervivum tectorum.
1821Galt Annals Parish i. 22 It came on such a *thunder-plump, that there was not a single soul stayed in the kirk-yard to hear him. 1883I. L. Bishop in Leisure Hour 20/2 A heavy shower, like a ‘thunder-plump’, takes up a part of the afternoon.
1877Scribner's Monthly July 285/2 The natives call these bitterns by the very appropriate if not euphonious name of ‘*thunder-pumper’. 1888Goode Amer. Fishes 142 The name..‘Thunder⁓pumper’, also used for the bittern,..is heard along the Mississippi River. 1891E. Roper By Track & Trail xxi. 312 The gurgle and the wheeze and the final explosion of a ‘thunder-pumper’ [bittern].
1784G. Adams Ess. Electricity ix. 154 When lightning strikes a tree..or a *thunder-rod, it is not because these objects are high..but because they communicate with..the surface of the ground. 1824Mechanic's Mag. No. 57. 10 A good kitchen fire has more efficacy in preventing a house from being struck than a whole magazine of thunder⁓rods. 1944Archit. Rev. XCV. 135/2 Archaic devices like the ‘*thunder run’, the ‘sloat’ system of raising scenery, the ‘drum and shaft’ method of hanging it, still survive at Bristol. 1976Early Music Oct. 401/1 The thunder simulated at the beginning and end of the Cave scene must be..baroque-artificial—for preference made by cannon-balls in a thunder run.
1913‘V. D. Browne’ Secrets Scene Painting & Stage Effects 66 Hung from flies. A *thunder Sheet. 1939Joyce Finnegans Wake 503 Raindrum, windmachine, snowbox. But thundersheet? 1967Oxf. Compan. Theatre (ed. 3) 947/2 The noise of thunder is usually produced off-stage by the shaking of a suspended iron sheet known as the Thunder Sheet.
1605Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. i. Vocation 1304 Heav'n flings down nought but flashing *Thundershot.
1626T. H[awkins] Caussin's Holy Crt. 130 Some haue beene..*thunder-shot in a bath.
a1699Stillingfl. (J.), The conceit is long in delivering, and at last it comes like a *Thunder⁓shower, full of sulphur and darkness. 1766Wesley Jrnl. 13 July, We were met..by a furious thunder-shower. 1856E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh iv. 174 Softly, as the last repenting drops Of a thunder-shower. 1947S. Bellow Victim i. 5 A thundershower began when he approached the outside door. 1980News & Observer (Raleigh, N. Carolina) 28 Oct. 2/3 Clouds will prevail across much of North Carolina today, with some showers or thundershowers possible through Wednesday.
c1440York Myst. xi. 320 So are they threst and *thondour slayne. 1732P. Walker Cargill in Biog. Presbyt. (1827) II. 24 Frighted as if they were blasted or thunder-slain.
1875Browning Aristoph. Apol. 1968 Hellas *thundersmote The Persian.
1592G. Harvey Four Lett. iii. 37 That terrible *Thundersmith of termes. 1593― Pierce's Super. 190 Vulcan..the..thundersmith of..Iupiter.
1800Lamb Let. to Manning 16 Oct., Whip-snakes, *thunder-snakes, pig-nose-snakes. 1863T. W. Higginson Army Life (1870) 140 A thunder⁓snake, eight feet long.
1918E. R. Burroughs Tarzan & Jewels of Opar (1919) xvii. 157 The ape folk fear the *thunder-sticks of the Tarmangani. 1947I. L. Idriess Isles of Despair xxxiv. 229 A puff of smoke belched from the brig... They had expected resistance, but had hoped the vessel was too small to carry the ‘big thunder sticks’. 1965Canad. Geogr. Jrnl. Apr. 115/1 The white man came to shatter the silence of the wilderness with his thunder stick.
1563B. Googe Eglogs iv. (Arb.) 43 O thou yat throwest the *thunder thumps From Heauens hye, to Hell.
1637Bastwick Litany i. 11, I will soe *thunderthump Your Pautry Politans.
a1586Sidney Arcadia (1598) 571 Now the *thunderthumping Ioue trans⁓fund his dotes into your excellent formositie. 1623Lisle ælfric on O. & N. Test. Ded. xii, The shriking trump, and thunder-thumping drum. 1679V. Alsop Mel. Inquirend. ii. iii. 250 They cannot cloath their thoughts in thunder⁓thumping Phraseology.
1767D. Garrick Peep Behind Curtain i. 22 Ladies, you can't possibly have any thunder and lightning this morning; one of the planks of the *thunder-trunk started the other night. 1830G. Colman Random Rec. I. vii. 229 For then did my Evil Genius enthrone himself upon a thunder-trunk, with a roll of play-bills in his hand.
▪ II. thunder, v.|ˈθʌndə(r)|
Forms: see the n.; also 3 þondri, 4 thonyre; 5 pa. tense thunret.
[OE. þunrian, in 13th c. þondren, f. þunor, thunder n.; cf. Du. donderen, LG. dönnern, OHG. donarôn, MHG. donren, MG. dunren, Ger. donnern; Norw. dial. tora; Sw. dundra, Da. tordne, dundre (from LG.).]
1. intr.
a. Impersonally: it thunders, thunder sounds, there is thunder.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxix. §3 Hit hwilum þunrað, hwilum na ne onginð. c1000Ags. Gosp. John xii. 29 Seo menio..þæt ᵹehyrde sædon þæt hyt þunrode. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 198/37 Þat weder..bi-gan to chaungie..hit bi-gan to þondri and hauli. a1375Joseph Arim. 235 Hit þester bi-gon and þonderde swiþe. c1400Destr. Troy 3691 Thunret full throly; thrappit the windes. 1526Tindale John xii. 29 Then sayde the people that stode by and herde, it thoundreth. 1616Surfl. & Markham Country Farme 25 If in Summer it lighten when it thundreth not. 1725Watts Logic iii. ii. §4 Thunder seldom comes without Lightning; but it thundered Yesterday; therefore probably it lightened also. 1890Doyle White Company xv, I can well remember that in Navarre one day it thundered on the left out of a cloudless sky.
b. With subject (the or a deity, heaven, the clouds, the sky, etc.): To cause or give forth thunder; to sound with thunder.
a1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) xxvii[i]. 3 He is mæᵹen-þrymmes God, and he þunrað ofer maneᵹum wæterum. a1300E.E. Psalter xvi[i]. 14 [13] And laverd thonered fra heuen. a1340Hampole Psalter, Cant. 502 In heuyns he sall thonyre. 1535Coverdale Ps. lxxvi[i]. 17 Y⊇ cloudes thondered, and thy arowes wente abrode. 1582Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 20 Thee skyes doo thunder. 1607Shakes. Cor. iii. i. 257 He would not flatter..Ioue, for 's power to Thunder. 1810Southey Thalaba vii. xxii, Then darkness cover'd all, Earth shook, Heaven thunder'd.
c. trans. (with various objects): To deal out or inflict by thunder; to strike down by thunder; to utter in thunder. arch. rare.
1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 47 Beeing the Sonnes of Iupiter, they..thunder out plagues to the proude in heart. 1608Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. iv. Schisme 1193 The Heav'nly Powrs, Who thunder-down the high-aspiring Towrs. a1625Jas. I Ps. xxix. in Farr S.P. Jas. I (1848) 4 God doth thunder his uoyce.
2. transf.
a. intr. To make a loud resounding noise like thunder; to sound very loudly; to roar. Sometimes connoting violent movement: To rush or fall with great noise and commotion.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. ii. met. iv. 31 (Camb. MS.) Al thowgh the wynde trowblynge the see thondre with ouer⁓throwynges. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 1334 The great artillary began to thunder from either side. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 705 The Danes like a mighty storme thundring from out of the North-East. 1718Pope Iliad ii. 1017 His fiery coursers thunder o'er the plains. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xiii. iv, A footman knocked, or rather thundered at the door. 1845J. Coulter Adv. Pacific x. 124 A vast body of water passed down over a precipice about a hundred feet high, and thundered into the sea. 1855Tennyson Charge Light Brigade iii, Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxiv. 175 Avalanches thundered incessantly from the Aiguille Verte. 1934J. B. Priestley Eng. Journey i. 4 The children of these fist-shakers now go thundering by in their own huge coaches and loll in velvet as they go. 1946R.A.F. Jrnl. May 169 Lancasters..thundered through the night to pinpoint their objectives. 1951‘J. Wyndham’ Day of Triffids i. 9 The westbound buses thundered along trying to beat the lights. 1960C. Day Lewis Buried Day ii. 38 We thundered down the steep hill into the centre of the town, the squawking hens bouncing up and down on the flat cart, straw and feathers flying.
b. trans. (with various objects): To deal or inflict, drive or impel, sound or give forth, strike, attack, or bombard, put down or overwhelm, etc. with a loud noise or other action like thunder.
1590Spenser F.Q. i. vi. 43 They gan..To thunder blowes, and fiersly to assaile Each other. Ibid. iii. x. 33 Forth the Boaster..begonne His stolen steed to thunder furiously. 1601B. Jonson Poetaster iv. v, Thou anger'st vs,..we will thunder thee in peeces. 1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 108 The English merchants ships thundred out his health by 200 great shot. 1687Rycaut Hist. Turks II. 322 The Town would be thundred with greater violence. 1759W. Wilkie Epigon. vi. 173 Learn to dread My vengeance thund'red on your wretched head. 1839Bailey Festus xix. (1852) 304 Like to a foaming force, Which thunders down the echo it creates. 1894Hall Caine Manxman iv. xii, He pounded it [a drum], boomed it, thundered it.
3. fig.
a. intr. To speak in the way of vehement threatening or reproof; to utter terrible menace or denunciation; to ‘fulminate’; to inveigh powerfully against; sometimes, to speak bombastically, or with powerful eloquence. Also simply, to speak in a very loud tone, shout loudly, vociferate.
a1340Hampole Psalter xvii. 15 Oure lord thonord, manaunsand pyne of hell til synful men. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Tim. 13 Thunder not at him with cruell wordes. 1575Gascoigne Making of Verse in Steele Gl., etc. (Arb.) 31 It is not inough..to thunder in Rym, Ram, Ruff, by letter (quoth my master Chaucer). 1617Moryson Itin. i. 142 The Hoste so thundred among us like the bragging souldier. 1697Dryden æneid vi. 823 The queen of Furies..thund'ring in their ears. 1722De Foe Plague (1754) 33 The Ministers..thundered against these, and other wicked Practices. 1863W. Phillips Speeches i. 9 James Otis thundered in this hall.
b. trans. To utter or publish in the way of terrible threatening, denunciation, or invective; also simply, to utter loudly, shout out, roar.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 287 Cursyngis purchased of þe pope and oþere felle sensuris þondured ouere til Englond. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xii. 74 Do not thunder sore threatenings. c1590Marlowe Faust. vi. 20 Fearful echoes thunder in mine ears, ‘Faustus, thou art damned!’ 1592Greene Groat's W. Wit (1617) 27 The twelue labours of Hercules haue I terribly thundered on the Stage. 1604Rowlands Looke to it 43 Thunder out Oathes, such as in Hell are bred. 1681T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 31 (1713) I. 200 Adieu, ye Whigs, Poor Protestant Pigs, The Tories now will thunder us. a1715Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 274 Censures would have been thundered at Rome against all that should take any such test. 1839Thackeray Fatal Boots Mar., He thundered out so much of his abuse of me,..that the boys roared with laughter. 1887Bowen Virg. æneid i. 747 Tyrians thunder applause.
c. To hurl or launch vehement threats or invectives against; to denounce violently; also, to drive or put down by denunciation. Now rare or Obs.
1677W. Hughes Man of Sin ii. vi. 103 S. Becket..thunders from off the Earth, and down as low as Hell, vast numbers of Clerks, Bishops, and Nobles. 1694Crowne Married Beau v. 62 Men thunder one another. a1720Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iv. 331 If he had..thundered down deceit. |