storm
/stɔːm
/noun
1A violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lightning, or snow.These kinds of storms can produce rain, hail snow, thunder and lightning....
- Hampshire was battered by high-speed winds and heavy rain yesterday as violent storms hit the county.
- The storms also brought strong winds and frequent lightning, we are told.
Synonyms
tempest, squall;
gale, hurricane, tornado, cyclone, typhoon, superstorm;
thunderstorm, cloudburst, downpour, rainstorm, hailstorm, deluge, monsoon, tropical storm, electrical storm;
snowstorm, blizzard;
dust storm, dust devil;
North American williwaw, ice storm, windstorm;
in central Asia buran
1.1 (also storm system) An intense low-pressure weather system; a cyclone.The whole storm system may be up to 10 miles high and on average 500 miles wide....
- The storm system is still causing flash floods along the Atlantic coast.
- A storm system late last week brought welcome precipitation and limited relief to north central and northeast Nebraska, often with 2-4 inches of rain.
1.2A wind of force 10 on the Beaufort scale (48-55 knots or 88-102 km/h).Elsewhere in the county, fire crews had a relatively quiet weekend despite the storm force winds....
- As the storm force winds abated late on Thursday evening conditions did improve in most areas.
- In the early part of the month the Co. Down coast was battered by one of the worst storms for a number of years with easterly winds gusting up to severe storm force 11.
1.3A heavy discharge of missiles or blows: two men were taken by a storm of bullets...
- The referee halted the fight in the final round after a storm of blows followed a standing eight count early in the early seconds of the round.
- I saw Wyatt pummeling Adrian under a storm of blows and I began to understand why I had not found a calling card from Ace.
- Sighing, she jumped on top of the rock and was immediately blown backwards by a storm of fire.
Synonyms
volley, salvo, fusillade, barrage, discharge, shower, spray, hail, rain
2A tumultuous reaction; an uproar or controversy: the book caused a storm in America the manager is at the centre of a drugs storm in Germany...
- This was my first exposure to the raging storm of the creation-day controversy.
- However, a new poll suggests that the 39-year-old's public appeal has not been affected by the storm over drugs.
- Closer to home, the Irish Times, once the stately ship of Irish journalism, continues to be battered by storms and controversy.
Synonyms
uproar, commotion, furore, brouhaha, trouble, disturbance, hue and cry, upheaval;
controversy, scandal, argument, fracas, fight, war of words
informal to-do, hoo-ha, rumpus, hullabaloo, ballyhoo, ructions, stink
British informal row
2.1A vehement outburst of a specified feeling or reaction: the disclosure raised a storm of protest...
- When Dylan himself decided to make the transition from folk hero to electric messiah, he found himself at the centre of a storm of protest.
- After a storm of protest, the conservation group agreed to talk to animal welfare groups to see if there was a way to save both hedgehogs and birds.
- The proposals for extra drinking time were met with a storm of protest from neighbours who said it would fuel late-night noise.
Synonyms
outburst, outbreak, explosion, eruption, outpouring, surge, upsurge, avalanche, torrent, flood, deluge;
blaze, flare-up
3 (storms) North American Storm windows.
4A direct assault by troops on a fortified place.The third, and presumably most venturesome of all castle assaults was the storm.
Synonyms
assault, attack, onslaught, offensive, charge, raid, foray, sortie, rush, descent, incursion, thrust, push, blitz, blitzkrieg, aggression
archaic onset
verb
1 [no object, with adverbial of direction] Move angrily or forcefully in a specified direction: she burst into tears and stormed off he stormed out of the house...
- They promptly blamed each other for driving him away, and stormed off in opposite directions in the vain hope of finding their way back to the palace.
- At last, Cora and Arlan broke away and stormed off in opposite directions.
- He then turned on his heel and stormed off in the direction of the cucumber sandwiches.
Synonyms
stride angrily, stomp, march, charge, stalk, flounce, stamp, fling
1.1 [with direct speech] Shout (something) angrily; rage: ‘Don’t patronize me!’ she stormed
Synonyms
rant, rave, rant and rave, shout, bellow, roar, thunder, rage, explode
1.2Move forcefully and decisively to a specified position in a game or contest: Chester stormed back with two goals in five minutes...
- His club colleague James Callery, now operating at centre-forward, came storming into the game in the final 10 minutes.
- Biarritz dominated for over an hour but came agonisingly close to throwing it away after Ulster stormed back into the game.
- Connelly was again on target to complete his hat-trick and put Forres in a winning position but Nairn stormed back with goals from Gary Farquhar and a winner from Kellacher.
2 [with object] (Of troops) suddenly attack and capture (a building or other place) by means of force: commandos stormed a hijacked plane early today (as noun storming) the storming of the Bastille...
- The siege finally ended the following day when troops stormed the building.
- When troops stormed the building, 129 hostages and 41 guerrillas were killed.
- With the help of military deserters, they stormed the prison and forced its surrender, massacring the commander who had fired on them early in the attack.
3 [no object] (it storms, it is storming, etc.) (Of the weather) be violent, with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lightning, or snow.It was practically dark as we prepared to put the sign onto the posts when a strong wind stormed through bringing an icy rain and hail with it....
- He often provided a roof over my head when it stormed or the snow was deep outside.
- That night it stormed again and in the morning they set out through the driving rain, though the thunder and lightning had stopped.
Phrases
go down a storm
the lull (or calm) before the storm
storm and stress
a storm in a teacup
take something by storm
—— up a storm
Derivatives
stormproof
- People must learn to coexist with our coasts, live in practical areas, and, where feasible, build the necessary defenses to stormproof our society.
- More than two dozen police cars were moved into a stormproof building owned by a large building-supply store.
- There was clear glass behind him, reinforced stuff, shatterproof, stormproof, and beyond it was a creature.
Origin
Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch storm and German Sturm, probably also to the verb stir1. The verb dates from late Middle English in sense 3 of the verb.