STORM

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does storm mean? 

• STORM (noun)
  The noun STORM has 3 senses:

1. a violent weather condition with winds 64-72 knots (11 on the Beaufort scale) and precipitation and thunder and lightning

2. a violent commotion or disturbance

3. a direct and violent assault on a stronghold

  Familiarity information: STORM used as a noun is uncommon.

• STORM (verb)
  The verb STORM has 5 senses:

1. behave violently, as if in state of a great anger

2. take by force

3. rain, hail, or snow hard and be very windy, often with thunder or lightning

4. blow hard

5. attack by storm; attack suddenly

  Familiarity information: STORM used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STORM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A violent weather condition with winds 64-72 knots (11 on the Beaufort scale) and precipitation and thunder and lightning

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

storm; violent storm

Hypernyms ("storm" is a kind of...):

atmospheric phenomenon (a physical phenomenon associated with the atmosphere)

Meronyms (parts of "storm"):

storm center; storm centre (the central area or place of lowest barometric pressure within a storm)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "storm"):

firestorm (a storm in which violent winds are drawn into the column of hot air rising over a severely bombed area)

noreaster; northeaster (a storm blowing from the northeast)

hailstorm (a storm during which hail falls)

ice storm; silver storm (a storm with freezing rain that leaves everything glazed with ice)

rainstorm (a storm with rain)

blizzard; snowstorm (a storm with widespread snowfall accompanied by strong winds)

electric storm; electrical storm; thunderstorm (a storm resulting from strong rising air currents; heavy rain or hail along with thunder and lightning)

windstorm (a storm consisting of violent winds)

Holonyms ("storm" is a part of...):

Beaufort scale; wind scale (an international scale of wind force from 0 (calm air) to 12 (hurricane))

Derivation:

storm (blow hard)

storm (rain, hail, or snow hard and be very windy, often with thunder or lightning)

stormy ((especially of weather) affected or characterized by storms or commotion)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A violent commotion or disturbance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

storm; tempest

Context example:

it was only a tempest in a teapot

Hypernyms ("storm" is a kind of...):

commotion; disruption; disturbance; flutter; hoo-ha; hoo-hah; hurly burly; kerfuffle; to-do (a disorderly outburst or tumult)

Derivation:

storm (behave violently, as if in state of a great anger)

stormy (characterized by violent emotions or behavior)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A direct and violent assault on a stronghold

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("storm" is a kind of...):

assault (close fighting during the culmination of a military attack)

Derivation:

storm (attack by storm; attack suddenly)

storm (take by force)

• STORM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they storm    ... he / she / it storms   
Past simple: stormed   
Past participle: stormed   
-ing form: storming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Behave violently, as if in state of a great anger

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

rage; ramp; storm

Hypernyms (to "storm" is one way to...):

act; behave; do (behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

storm (a violent commotion or disturbance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Take by force

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

force; storm

Context example:

Storm the fort

Hypernyms (to "storm" is one way to...):

penetrate; perforate (pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They storm the hill

Derivation:

storm (a direct and violent assault on a stronghold)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Rain, hail, or snow hard and be very windy, often with thunder or lightning

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Context example:

If it storms, we'll need shelter

"Storm" entails doing...:

rain; rain down (precipitate as rain)

Sentence frame:

It is ----ing

Sentence example:

It was storming all day long

Derivation:

storm (a violent weather condition with winds 64-72 knots (11 on the Beaufort scale) and precipitation and thunder and lightning)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Blow hard

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Context example:

It was storming all night

Hypernyms (to "storm" is one way to...):

blow (be blowing or storming)

Sentence frame:

It is ----ing

Derivation:

storm (a violent weather condition with winds 64-72 knots (11 on the Beaufort scale) and precipitation and thunder and lightning)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Attack by storm; attack suddenly

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

storm; surprise

Hypernyms (to "storm" is one way to...):

assail; attack (launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They storm the hill

Derivation:

storm (a direct and violent assault on a stronghold)

 Context examples 

Then, with set faces, the Company rose up among the storm of stones, and looked down upon the thousands who sped swiftly up the slope against them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It's unclear how these storms form.

(Hubble Reveals Dynamic Atmospheres of Uranus, Neptune, NASA)

Like sunshine after a storm were the peaceful weeks which followed.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Other factors, such as storms, may stop the smoke in its tracks.

(Australian bushfire smoke drifts to South America, SciDev.Net)

If I storm, you have the art of weeping.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Yet, in all the hurry of my thoughts, wild running with the thundering sea,—the storm, and my uneasiness regarding Ham were always in the fore-ground.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Then she opened the door for her husband, and said: “Thank heaven, you are back again! There is such a storm, it looks as if the world were coming to an end.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

“It would have to storm very hard,” I temporized.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It was a very fierce storm; the sea broke strange and dangerous.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)