lightning

a brilliant electric discharge in the sky: The dark sky was pierced by lightning.

Not to be confused with:

lightening – becoming lighter or brighter: The sky began lightening as the storm passed.

light·ning

(līt′nĭng)

a. An abrupt, discontinuous natural electric discharge in the atmosphere.

b. The visible flash of light accompanying such a discharge.

2. Informal A sudden, usually improbable stroke of fortune.

intr.v. light·ninged (-nĭngd), light·ning, light·nings

To discharge a flash of lightning.

adj.

Moving or occurring with remarkable speed or suddenness.

[Middle English, gerund of lightnen, to illuminate, from lighten, from Old English līhtan; see leuk- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

lightning

(ˈlaɪtnɪŋ)

1. (Physical Geography) a flash of light in the sky, occurring during a thunderstorm and caused by a discharge of electricity, either between clouds or between a cloud and the earth.

2. (modifier) fast and sudden: a lightning raid.

[C14: variant of lightening]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

light•ning

(ˈlaɪt nɪŋ)

n., v. -ninged, -ning,
adj. n.

1. a brilliant electric spark discharge in the atmosphere, occurring within or between clouds, or between a cloud and the ground.

v.i.

2. to emit flashes of lightning (often used impersonally with it as subject): Go inside if it starts to lightning.

adj.

3. of, pertaining to, or resembling lightning, esp. in regard to speed: lightning flashes.

[1350–1400; Middle English, variant of lightening. See lighten¹, -ing¹]

light·ning

(līt′nĭng)

A flash of light in the sky caused by an electrical discharge between clouds or between a cloud and the Earth's surface. The flash heats the air and usually causes thunder. Lightning may appear as a jagged streak, a bright sheet, or, in rare cases, a glowing red ball.

Did You Know? The energy within a bolt of lightning is so great that it heats the air around it to temperatures up to five times greater than that of the surface of the sun, or 55,000°F (30,000°C). The rapid expansion of this superheated air is what creates the sounds we call thunder. The sounds travel to us more slowly than the light from lightning, so it is possible to estimate how far away a lightning strike is by timing the gap between when you see the lightning and when you hear the thunder it has produced. Count the seconds from when you see the flash until you hear the thunder, and divide this number by five. The result will be the number of miles you are from the point of the strike.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

lightning

nimbostratus cloud - Can drop precipitation but has no lightning or thunder.
artillery - A poetic term for thunder and lightning.
coup de foudre - A sudden unforeseen event or instantaneous and overwhelming passion, such as love at first sight; it is French, literally, "stroke of lightning."
lightning - Etymologically, lightning is simply something that illuminates or "lightens" the sky, a contraction of the earlier "lightening."

Lightning

See also atmosphere; clouds; rain; thunder; weather.

astraphobia, astrapophobia

an abnormal fear of lightning.

keraunography, ceraunography

the recording of occurrences of lightning and thunder on a time scale attached to a revolving drum. — keraunograph, n. — keraunographic, adj.

keraunophobia, ceraunophobia

an abnormal fear of thunder and lightning.

keraunoscopia, ceraunoscopia, keraunoscopy

a form of divination involving thunder and lightning.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	lightning - abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light chain lightning, forked lightning - a form of lightning that moves rapidly in a zigzag path with one end divided (fork-like) atmospheric electricity - electrical discharges in the atmosphere bolt, bolt of lightning, thunderbolt - a discharge of lightning accompanied by thunder
	2.	lightning - the flash of light that accompanies an electric discharge in the atmosphere (or something resembling such a flash); can scintillate for a second or more flash - a sudden intense burst of radiant energy heat lightning - bright flashes of light near the horizon without thunder (especially on hot evenings); usually attributed to distant lightning that is reflected by clouds sheet lighting - lightning that appears as a broad sheet; due to reflections of more distant lightning and to diffusion by the clouds

lightning

noun

Related words
adjectives fulgurous, fulminous
fear astraphobia

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

بَرْقبَرْقٌ

мълниясветкавица

blesk

lyn

Blitz

αστραπή κεραυνός

fulmo

relámpago rayo

salamasalamanisku

éclair foudre fulgurant

ברק

munja

villámvillámlás

elding

fulmine lampo saetta balenio baleno

雷

번개

fulgur

žaibas

zibens

bleskhrom

strela

blixt

สายฟ้าแลบ

şimşek yıldırım

блискавка

chớp

闪电

lightning

[ˈlaɪtnɪŋ]

A. N (= flash) → relámpago m; (= stroke) → rayo m
a flash of lightning → un relámpago
where the lightning struck → donde cayó el rayo
as quick as lightning; like (greased) lightning → como un rayo
lightning never strikes twice in the same place → desgracias así no suelen repetirse

B. CPD lightning attack N → ataque m relámpago
lightning conductor, lightning rod (US) N → pararrayos m inv
lightning strike N → huelga f relámpago
lightning visit N → visita f relámpago

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

lightning

[ˈlaɪtnɪŋ]

n → foudre f
thunder and lightning → le tonnerre et la foudre
a flash of lightning → un éclair
Another flash of lightning lit up the cave → Un autre éclair illumina la grotte.
to be struck by lightning → être foudroyé(e)
One man died when he was struck by lightning → Un homme est mort foudroyé.

adj (= very quick) → fulgurant(e), éclair inv
Driving today demands lightning reflexes → Aujourd'hui, la conduite exige des réflexes fulgurants., Aujourd'hui, la conduite exige des réflexes éclair.
with lightning speed → à la vitesse de l'éclairlightning bug n (US) (= firefly) → luciole flightning conductor lightning rod (US) n → paratonnerre mlightning strike n (British) (= industrial action) → grève f éclairlight opera n → opérette flight pen n → crayon m optiquelight reading n → lecture f légère

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

lightning

n → Blitz m; a flash of lightning → ein Blitz m; (doing damage) → ein Blitzschlag m; struck by lightning → vom Blitz getroffen; what causes lightning? → wie entstehen Blitze?; we had some lightning an hour ago → vor einer Stunde hat es geblitzt; as quick as lightning, like (greased) lightning → wie der Blitz, wie ein geölter Blitz; lightning never strikes twice in the same place (lit, fig) → der Blitz schlägt nie zweimal am gleichen Ort ein

attr → blitzschnell, Blitz-; lightning attack → Überraschungs- or Blitzangriff m; lightning strike → spontaner Streik; with lightning speed → blitzschnell, mit Blitzesschnelle; lightning visit → Blitzbesuch m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

lightning

[ˈlaɪtnɪŋ] n → fulmine m, lampo
a lot of lightning → molti lampi
as quick as lightning, like (greased) lightning (fam) → (veloce) come un fulmine, in un lampo

lightning

(ˈlaitniŋ) noun

a flash of electricity between clouds or from a cloud to earth during a storm, usually followed by thunder. The house was struck by lightning.

a flash of lightning (not lightening).
lightening is the present participle of lighten, to make or become lighter.

lightning

→ بَرْقٌ blesk lyn Blitz αστραπή relámpago salama éclair munja fulmine 雷 번개 bliksem lyn błyskawica relâmpago молния blixt สายฟ้าแลบ şimşek chớp 闪电

lightning

n relámpago

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

It is not merely courting death or other accident from lightning, but it is bringing the lightning into where he lives.

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And despite the downpour, the deafening thunder and the lightning that seemed ready to sear one's eyes, he walked out of the cave entrance, followed by Tom and the others.

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Close on its apparition, and blindingly violet by contrast, danced out the first lightning of the gathering storm, and the thunder burst like a rocket overhead.

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The storm had drifted on to the opposite side of the sky, and there were flashes of lightning and distant thunder from that quarter.

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When darkness came on, sky and sea roared and split with the thunder, and blazed with the lightning, that showed the disabled masts fluttering here and there with the rags which the first fury of the tempest had left for its after sport.

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A MAN Running for Office was overtaken by Lightning.

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Their business was so important that they decided to push on, despite the darkness and the mutterings of an approaching storm, which eventually broke upon them just as they arrived opposite the "Spook House." The lightning was so incessant that they easily found their way through the gateway and into a shed, where they hitched and unharnessed their team.

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I used to lie in my bed by the open window, watching the heat lightning play softly along the horizon, or looking up at the gaunt frame of the windmill against the blue night sky.

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The wind began to moan in hollow murmurs, as the sun went down carrying glad day elsewhere; and a train of dull clouds coming up against it, menaced thunder and lightning. Large drops of rain soon began to fall, and, as the storm clouds came sailing onward, others supplied the void they left behind and spread over all the sky.

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Succeeding years, too wild for song, Then rolled like tropic storms along, Where, through the garish lights that fly Dying along the troubled sky, Lay bare, through vistas thunder-riven, The blackness of the general Heaven, That very blackness yet doth Ring Light on the lightning's silver wing.

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It thundered, and bright flashes of lightning now and again shot across the sky, turning it into a sea of fire.

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In the silence which followed that discovery, a first flash of lightning passed across the window and the low roll of thunder sounded the outbreak of the storm.

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