Storm

/stɔːm/ name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation.
  • Grammar: storm is listed as name, noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: tempest, access, agitation, anger.
  • Useful contrasts: gentle breeze, becalming, calm.
  • Usage evidence: You know the phrase, we reap what we sow. I have sown the wind and this is my storm.

How to use "storm"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "storm" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. 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 "storm" 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 "storm" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "storm" 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 "storm" is acting as name, noun, verb 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 "tempest" 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 "storm", 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. 1
    Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation.

    "Near-synonyms: cyclone (broad sense), tempest"

  2. 2
    A violent assault on a fortified position or stronghold.
  3. 3
    a direct and violent assault on a stronghold wordnet
  4. 4
    Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation.; A heavy fall of precipitation (hail, rain, or snow) or bout of lightning and thunder without strong winds; a hail storm, rainstorm, snowstorm, or thunderstorm. broadly
  5. 5
    a violent weather condition with winds 64-72 knots (11 on the Beaufort scale) and precipitation and thunder and lightning wordnet
Show 9 more definitions
  1. 6
    Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation.; Synonym of cyclone (“a weather phenomenon consisting of a system of winds rotating around a centre of low atmospheric pressure”). broadly
  2. 7
    a violent commotion or disturbance wordnet
  3. 8
    Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation.; A period of frosty and/or snowy weather. Canada, Scotland, US, broadly, dated
  4. 9
    Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation.; A disturbed state of the atmosphere between a severe or strong gale and a hurricane on the modern Beaufort scale, with a wind speed of between 89 and 102 kilometres per hour (55–63 miles per hour; 10 on the scale, known as a "storm" or whole gale), or of between 103 and 117 kilometres per hour (64–72 miles per hour; 11 on the scale, known as a "violent storm").
  5. 10
    A heavy expulsion or fall of things (as blows, objects which are thrown, etc.). figuratively

    "a storm of bullets"

  6. 11
    A violent agitation of human society; a domestic, civil, or political commotion. figuratively

    "The proposed reforms have led to a political storm."

  7. 12
    A violent commotion or outbreak of sounds, speech, thoughts, etc.; also, an outpouring of emotion. figuratively

    "a storm of protest"

  8. 13
    Chiefly with a qualifying word: a violent attack of diease, pain, physiological reactions, symptoms, etc.; a paroxysm. figuratively

    "asthmatic storm    cytokine storm"

  9. 14
    Ellipsis of storm window (“a second window (originally detachable) attached on the exterior side of a window in climates with harsh winters, to add an insulating layer of still air between the outside and inside”). Canada, US, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, in-plural
Verb
  1. 1
    Preceded by the dummy subject it: to have strong winds and usually lightning and thunder, and/or hail, rain, or snow. US, impersonal

    "It stormed throughout the night."

  2. 2
    attack by storm; attack suddenly wordnet
  3. 3
    To make (someone or something) stormy; to agitate (someone or something) violently. transitive

    "And dovvne I laid to liſt the ſad tun'd tale, / Ere long eſpied a fickle maid full pale / Tearing of papers breaking rings a tvvaine, / Storming her vvorld vvith ſorrovves, vvind and raine."

  4. 4
    take by force wordnet
  5. 5
    To disturb or trouble (someone). figuratively, transitive
Show 13 more definitions
  1. 6
    behave violently, as if in state of a great anger wordnet
  2. 7
    To use (harsh language). figuratively, transitive
  3. 8
    blow hard wordnet
  4. 9
    To violently assault (a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.) with the aim of gaining control of it. transitive

    "the storming of the Bastille"

  5. 10
    rain, hail, or snow hard and be very windy, often with thunder or lightning wordnet
  6. 11
    To violently assault (a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.) with the aim of gaining control of it.; To assault or gain control or power over (someone's heart, mind, etc.). figuratively, often, poetic, transitive

    "No Engines can a Tyrant find, / to ſtorm the Truth-ſupported Mind, […]"

  7. 12
    To catch up (on production output) by making frenzied or herculean efforts. broadly, especially, transitive

    "They were storming near the end of the month to salvage some goodwill."

  8. 13
    To protect (seed-hay) from stormy weather by putting sheaves of them into small stacks. British, dialectal, transitive
  9. 14
    Of the weather: to be violent, with strong winds and usually lightning and thunder, and/or hail, rain, or snow. intransitive

    "My harueſte haſts to ſtirre vp winter ſterne, / And bids him clayme with rigorous rage hys right. / So nowe he ſtormes with many a ſturdy ſtoure, / So now his bluſtring blaſt eche coſte doth ſcoure."

  10. 15
    To be exposed to harsh (especially cold) weather. intransitive
  11. 16
    To move noisily and quickly like a storm (noun etymology 1 sense 1), usually in a state of anger or uproar. figuratively, intransitive

    "She stormed out of the room."

  12. 17
    To move quickly in the course of an assault on a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc. broadly, figuratively, intransitive
  13. 18
    To be in a violent temper; to use harsh language; to fume, to rage. figuratively, intransitive

    "[T]he prieſts of the countrey cluſtering togither, began to grudge and ſtorme againſt Tindall [William Tyndale], rauing againſt him in alehouſes and other places."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A unisex given name.

Antonyms

gentle breezebecalmingcalmcalms

Example

"You know the phrase, we reap what we sow. I have sown the wind and this is my storm."

Common questions

What does "storm" mean?

Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation.

What is a synonym for "storm"?

Common synonyms include: tempest, access, agitation, anger, annoy, assail.

How do you use "storm" in a sentence?

You know the phrase, we reap what we sow. I have sown the wind and this is my storm.

How do you pronounce "storm"?

Pronounced /stɔːm/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English storm (“disturbed state of the atmosphere; heavy precipitation; battle, conflict; attack”) [and other forms], from Old English storm (“tempest, storm; attack; storm of arrows; disquiet, disturbance, tumult, uproar; onrush, rush”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *sturm (“storm”), from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz (“storm”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)twerH- (“to agitate, stir up; to propel; to urge on”). Related to stir. Cognates * Danish storm (“storm”) * Dutch storm (“storm”) * German Sturm (“storm”) * Icelandic stormur (“storm”) * Low German storm (“storm”) * Norwegian Bokmål storm (“storm”) * Norwegian Nynorsk storm (“storm”) * Scots storm (“storm”) * Swedish storm (“storm”) * West Frisian stoarm (“storm”)

Etymology 2

The verb is derived from Middle English stormen (“of the wind: to blow violently; to cause to roll or toss”), from storm (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitives of verbs). Compare Middle English sturmen (“to attack (someone) with great force”), from Old English styrman (“to rage, storm; to make a great noise, cry aloud, shout, storm”), from Proto-West Germanic *sturmijan (“to storm”), from Proto-Germanic *sturmijaną (“to storm”), from *sturmaz (“a storm”) (see etymology 1) + *-janą (suffix forming causatives from strong verbs, with a sense of ‘to cause to do [the action of the verb]’). The Middle English word did not survive into modern English. The noun is derived from verb etymology 2 sense 2.3 (“to violently assault (a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.) with the aim of gaining control of it”). Cognates * Dutch stormen (“to bluster, storm”) * German stürmen (“to rage, storm; to assault, attack”) * Icelandic storma (“to storm”) * Low German stormen (“to storm”) * Swedish storma (“to bluster, storm”)

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