What does "cloud" mean?
A rock; boulder; a hill.
Cloud
/klaʊd/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A rock; boulder; a hill.
- Grammar: cloud is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: a mass of, a world of, addle, addle the wits.
- Useful contrasts: brighten, clarify, clarifying.
- Usage evidence: There wasn't a cloud in the sky.
How to use "cloud"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cloud" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "cloud" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "cloud" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "cloud" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "cloud" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "a mass of" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "cloud", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A rock; boulder; a hill. obsolete
- 2 a group of many things in the air or on the ground wordnet
- 3 A visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air.
"While he thus ſpake, there came a cloud, and ouerſhadowed them, ⁊ they feared, as they entred into the cloude."
- 4 a visible mass of water or ice particles suspended at a considerable altitude wordnet
- 5 Any mass of dust, steam or smoke resembling such a mass.
"Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles."
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 any collection of particles (e.g., smoke or dust) or gases that is visible wordnet
- 7 Anything which makes things foggy or gloomy.
"But in one part of the horizon a cloud lay, and the rulers of India were oppressed with a sense of coming disaster. This cloud had begun to form in 1873, and had been continually growing larger; it threw a shadow over gold-debtor nations, and shed a depressing influence over gold-using countries."
- 8 out of touch with reality wordnet
- 9 Anything unsubstantial. figuratively
- 10 suspicion affecting your reputation wordnet
- 11 A dark spot on a lighter material or background.
- 12 a cause of worry or gloom or trouble wordnet
- 13 A group or swarm, especially suspended above the ground or flying.
"He opened the door and was greeted by a cloud of bats."
- 14 An elliptical shape or symbol whose outline is a series of semicircles, supposed to resemble a cloud.
"The comic-book character's thoughts appeared in a cloud above his head."
- 15 A telecom network (from their representation in engineering drawings).
- 16 The Internet, regarded as an abstract amorphous omnipresent space for processing and storage, the focus of cloud computing. with-definite-article
"Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet."
- 17 A negative or foreboding aspect of something positive: see every cloud has a silver lining or every silver lining has a cloud. figuratively
"But when he found that some of his interrogatories were evaded, and others answered undecisively, the look of gentleness which he had assumed, vanished, and his brow wore the cloud of disappointment and of anger."
- 18 Crystal methamphetamine. slang
- 19 A large, loosely-knitted headscarf worn by women.
- 20 A white cat. Internet, endearing, humorous
Verb
- 1 To become foggy or gloomy, or obscured from sight. intransitive
"The glass clouds when you breathe on it."
- 2 make milky or dull wordnet
- 3 To overspread or hide with a cloud or clouds. transitive
"The sky is clouded."
- 4 colour with streaks or blotches of different shades wordnet
- 5 Of the breath, to become cloud; to turn into mist.
"The horses stamping Their warm breath clouding In the sharp and frosty morning Of the day."
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 make less clear wordnet
- 7 To make obscure. transitive
"All this talk about human rights is clouding the real issue."
- 8 place under suspicion or cast doubt upon wordnet
- 9 To make less acute or perceptive. transitive
"Your emotions are clouding your judgement."
- 10 make gloomy or depressed wordnet
- 11 To make gloomy or sullen. transitive
"One day too late, I fear me, noble lord, Hath clouded all thy happy days on earth."
- 12 billow up in the form of a cloud wordnet
- 13 To blacken; to sully; to stain; to tarnish (reputation or character). transitive
"I would not be a stander-by to hear My sovereign mistress clouded so, without My present vengeance taken."
- 14 make less visible or unclear wordnet
- 15 To mark with, or darken in, veins or sports; to variegate with colors. transitive
"to cloud yarn"
- 16 make overcast or cloudy wordnet
- 17 To become marked, darkened or variegated in this way. intransitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"There wasn't a cloud in the sky."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "cloud"?
Common synonyms include: a mass of, a world of, addle, addle the wits, addling, adumbrate.
How do you use "cloud" in a sentence?
There wasn't a cloud in the sky.
How do you pronounce "cloud"?
Pronounced /klaʊd/.
Etymology
From Middle English cloud, from Old English clūd (“mass of stone, rock, boulder, hill”), from Proto-West Germanic *klūt, from Proto-Germanic *klūtaz, *klutaz (“lump, mass, conglomeration”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up, clench”). Cognate with Scots clood, clud (“cloud”), Dutch kluit (“lump, mass, clod”), German Low German Kluut, Kluute (“lump, mass, ball”), German Kloß (“lump, ball, dumpling”), Danish klode (“sphere, orb, planet”), Swedish klot (“sphere, orb, ball, globe”), Icelandic klót (“knob on a sword's hilt”). Related to English clod, clot, clump, club. Largely replaced Middle English wolken, from Old English wolcn (whence Modern English welkin), the commonest Germanic word (compare Dutch wolk, German Wolke).