Thunderclap
noun
A loud noise that comes from the sky especially during a storm.
A sudden thunderclap echoed through the valley.
noun
A surprising, shocking event or situation.
The news of his death came like a thunderclap.
noun
An action or event causing a significant impact.
Their decision to divorce was a political thunderclap.
Often appears as...
- political thunderclap
- emotional thunderclap
Usage tips
Formal, Disapproving
noun
A loud noise that comes from the sky especially during a storm.
A sudden thunderclap echoed through the valley.
noun
A surprising, shocking event or situation.
The news of his death came like a thunderclap.
noun
An action or event causing a significant impact.
Their decision to divorce was a political thunderclap.
Often appears as...
- political thunderclap
- emotional thunderclap
Usage tips
Formal, Disapproving
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Sound of Storm
Refers specifically to the sudden loud sound during storms, often after lightning.
The children slept soundly, undisturbed by the occasional thunderclaps.
Pro Tip 2/3Expresses Power
Evokes images of power and force, can imply something overwhelming.
The quarterback's tackle was like a thunderclap, stopping the play in its tracks.
Pro Tip 3/3Literal Use
Used literally in discussions about weather or vividly describing scenes in literature.
When the thunderclap struck, the old house seemed to shake at its foundations.
Pro Tip 1/3Sound of Storm
Refers specifically to the sudden loud sound during storms, often after lightning.
The children slept soundly, undisturbed by the occasional thunderclaps.
Pro Tip 2/3Expresses Power
Evokes images of power and force, can imply something overwhelming.
The quarterback's tackle was like a thunderclap, stopping the play in its tracks.
Pro Tip 3/3Literal Use
Used literally in discussions about weather or vividly describing scenes in literature.
When the thunderclap struck, the old house seemed to shake at its foundations.
Pro Tip 1/3Sound of Storm
Refers specifically to the sudden loud sound during storms, often after lightning.
The children slept soundly, undisturbed by the occasional thunderclaps.
Pro Tip 2/3Expresses Power
Evokes images of power and force, can imply something overwhelming.
The quarterback's tackle was like a thunderclap, stopping the play in its tracks.
Pro Tip 3/3Literal Use
Used literally in discussions about weather or vividly describing scenes in literature.
When the thunderclap struck, the old house seemed to shake at its foundations.
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Video examples
Eric Whitacre: Virtual...
and as the clouds got about halfway over the valley, so help me God, every single animal in that place stopped making noise at the same time. This electric hush, as if they could sense what was about to happen. And then the clouds came over us, and then, boom! This massive thunderclap, and sheets of rain.
Video examples
The Science of Lightning...
Fahrenheit this extreme heat creates the booming thunderclap as excessive pressure within the lightning path expands at supersonic rates on return strokes in the u.s. lightning occurs most often in Florida it's hot moist
Video examples
Eric Whitacre: Virtual...
and as the clouds got about halfway over the valley, so help me God, every single animal in that place stopped making noise at the same time. This electric hush, as if they could sense what was about to happen. And then the clouds came over us, and then, boom! This massive thunderclap, and sheets of rain.
Video examples
The Science of Lightning...
Fahrenheit this extreme heat creates the booming thunderclap as excessive pressure within the lightning path expands at supersonic rates on return strokes in the u.s. lightning occurs most often in Florida it's hot moist
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Stephen R. Donaldson
American Writer
For a variety of reasons, my books struck the marketplace like a thunderclap; and one of those reasons was that there were so few alternatives available. Readers who loved Tolkien, and who were not satisfied by Terry Brooks, had nowhere else to turn.
Quote examples
Steven Pinker
Canadian Scientist
I don't think there was a thunderclap or a divine spark that suddenly made one species smart. You can see, in our ancestors, there was a gradual expansion of the brain; there was an expansion of the complexity of tools.
Quote examples
Martin Dempsey
American General
Sometimes we wait for thunderclaps, drumrolls, and clarion calls to alert us to what's important when, actually, it's most often the subtle and persistent signals around us that make the most difference.
Quote examples
Mary H.K. Choi
South Korean Author
Avatar' is staggering. It's seismic. Evolutionarily speaking, it is cladogenesis in a thunderclap.
Quote examples
Stephen R. Donaldson
American Writer
For a variety of reasons, my books struck the marketplace like a thunderclap; and one of those reasons was that there were so few alternatives available. Readers who loved Tolkien, and who were not satisfied by Terry Brooks, had nowhere else to turn.
Quote examples
Steven Pinker
Canadian Scientist
I don't think there was a thunderclap or a divine spark that suddenly made one species smart. You can see, in our ancestors, there was a gradual expansion of the brain; there was an expansion of the complexity of tools.
Quote examples
Martin Dempsey
American General
Sometimes we wait for thunderclaps, drumrolls, and clarion calls to alert us to what's important when, actually, it's most often the subtle and persistent signals around us that make the most difference.
Quote examples
Mary H.K. Choi
South Korean Author
Avatar' is staggering. It's seismic. Evolutionarily speaking, it is cladogenesis in a thunderclap.
Example 1 of 4
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