Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A cloud formation of rounded, fleecy, white or gray masses.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun physics, meteorology A principal medium-level cloud type, white and/or gray in color, which occurs as a layer or patch with a waved aspect, the elements of which appear as laminae, rounded masses, or rolls. These elements usually are sharply outlined, but they may become partly fibrous or diffuse; they may or may not be merged; they generally have shadowed parts; and, by convection, when observed at an angle of more than 30° above the horizon, subtend an angle between 1 degrees and 5 degrees. (Abbreviated Ac.)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin altus, high; see al- in Indo-European roots + cumulus.]

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Examples

  • He proposes they be called altocumulus undulatus asperatus.

    Archive 2009-06-01 The Year in Pictures 2009

  • He proposes they be called altocumulus undulatus asperatus.

    Cloudy The Year in Pictures 2009

  • Jellyfish-shaped altocumulus clouds in the mid-atmosphere, trailing precipitation The impulse to collect can take strange forms.

    Cirrus Concerns Peter Pesic 2011

  • Above 6,500 feet can be found altocumulus ("clumps or rolls") and altostratus (a "drab and featureless" haze), as well as the storm clouds nimbostratus ("dim, miserable") and cumulonimbus ("the shape of a blacksmith's anvil").

    Cirrus Concerns Peter Pesic 2011

  • Altostratus and altocumulus are in the midrange, lie between one and a half and three miles above the sea.

    MY EMPIRE OF DIRT Manny Howard 2010

  • Since moving to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains I have enjoyed frequent sightings of spectacular altocumulus standing lenticularis or lenticular cloud formations.

    Rich Wolf: Boulder UFOs Identified (Photos) Rich Wolf 2010

  • Altostratus and altocumulus are in the midrange, lie between one and a half and three miles above the sea.

    MY EMPIRE OF DIRT Manny Howard 2010

  • Since moving to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains I have enjoyed frequent sightings of these spectacular altocumulus standing lenticularis or lenticular cloud formations.

    Rich Wolf: Boulder UFOs Identified (Photos) Rich Wolf 2010

  • Altostratus and altocumulus are in the midrange, lie between one and a half and three miles above the sea.

    MY EMPIRE OF DIRT Manny Howard 2010

  • Altostratus and altocumulus are in the midrange, lie between one and a half and three miles above the sea.

    MY EMPIRE OF DIRT Manny Howard 2010

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