What does "thunder" mean?
The loud rumbling, cracking, or crashing sound caused by expansion of rapidly heated air around a lightning bolt.
Thunder
/ˈθʌndə/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The loud rumbling, cracking, or crashing sound caused by expansion of rapidly heated air around a lightning bolt.
- Grammar: thunder is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: boom, roar, alas, announce.
- Useful contrasts: calm, composure, crawl.
- Usage evidence: We took cover from the thunder shower.
How to use "thunder"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "thunder" 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 "thunder" 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 "thunder" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "thunder" 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 "thunder" 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 "boom" 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 "thunder", 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 The loud rumbling, cracking, or crashing sound caused by expansion of rapidly heated air around a lightning bolt. countable, uncountable
"Thunder is preceded by lightning."
- 2 street names for heroin wordnet
- 3 A deep, rumbling noise resembling thunder. countable, uncountable
"Off in the distance, he heard the thunder of hoofbeats, signalling a stampede."
- 4 a deep prolonged loud noise wordnet
- 5 An alarming or startling threat or denunciation. countable, uncountable
"The thunders of the Vatican could no longer strike into the heart of princes."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 a booming or crashing noise caused by air expanding along the path of a bolt of lightning wordnet
- 7 The discharge of electricity; a thunderbolt. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"The revenging gods / 'Gainst parricides did all their thunders bend."
- 8 Synonym of thunder word. countable, uncountable
"Adam's fall and Vico's thunder are embodied in a word of a hundred letters, the first of ten thunders in the Wake."
Verb
- 1 To produce thunder; to sound, rattle, or roar, as a discharge of atmospheric electricity. impersonal
"It thundered continuously."
- 2 utter words loudly and forcefully wordnet
- 3 To make a noise like thunder. intransitive
"The train thundered along the tracks."
- 4 to make or produce a loud noise wordnet
- 5 To (make something) move very fast (with loud noise). ergative
"Senseless years thunder by / Millions are willing to give their lives for you / Does nothing live on?"
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 move fast, noisily, and heavily wordnet
- 7 To say (something) with a loud, threatening voice. intransitive, transitive
""Get back to work at once!", he thundered."
- 8 be the case that thunder is being heard wordnet
- 9 To produce something with incredible power.
"Just as it appeared Arsenal had taken the sting out of the tie, Johnson produced a moment of outrageous quality, thundering a bullet of a left foot shot out of the blue and into the top left-hand corner of Wojciech Szczesny's net with the Pole grasping at thin air."
Proper Noun
- 1 The 13th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.
Example
"We took cover from the thunder shower."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "thunder"?
Common synonyms include: boom, roar, alas, announce, awake the dead, bang.
How do you use "thunder" in a sentence?
We took cover from the thunder shower.
How do you pronounce "thunder"?
Pronounced /ˈθʌndə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English thunder, thonder, thundre, thonre, thunnere, þunre, from Old English þunor (“thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *þunr, from Proto-Germanic *þunraz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ten-, *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”). Compare astound, astonish, stun. Germanic cognates include West Frisian tonger, Dutch donder, German Donner, Old Norse Þórr (English Thor), Danish torden, Norwegian Nynorsk tore. Other cognates include Persian تندر (tondar), Latin tonō, detonō, Ancient Greek στένω (sténō), στενάζω (stenázō), στόνος (stónos), Στέντωρ (Sténtōr), Irish torann, Welsh taran, Gaulish Taranis. Doublet of donner, Thunor, and Thor.
Etymology 2
From Middle English thundren, from Old English þunrian (“to thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *þunrōn, from Proto-Germanic *þunrōną (“to thunder”).