Definitions

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

  • noun An extremely dense, vertically developed cumulus with a low dark base and fluffy masses that extend to great heights, usually producing heavy rains, thunderstorms, or hailstorms.

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

  • noun A cloud, with a tall structure and a flat base, that is often associated with thunderstorms.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a dark cloud of great vertical extent charged with electricity; associated with thunderstorms

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin cumulus ("amass") + nimbus ("cloud").

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Examples

  • The cumulonimbus is the Savage Beast of the Sky, a beautiful shaft of pregnant water bubbling at 26,000 feet, about to open up a can of whoop-ass on you and yours.

    8/8/02 This one goes out 2002

  • The cumulonimbus is the Savage Beast of the Sky, a beautiful shaft of pregnant water bubbling at 26,000 feet, about to open up a can of whoop-ass on you and yours.

    8/30/02 Tessa flew to Los 2002

  • The haze behaves somewhat like particles in the tops of thunderheads (known as cumulonimbus anvils) on Earth or in the ash plumes from large volcanic eruptions, which rise into the upper atmosphere and spread around the world, Wong said.

    SpaceRef Top Stories 2008

  • The haze behaves somewhat like particles in the tops of thunderheads on Earth (known as cumulonimbus anvils) or in the ash plumes from large volcanic eruptions, which rise into the upper atmosphere and spread around the world.

    Scientific Blogging 2008

  • We have to give props to Seacrest for using the word "cumulonimbus" in an interview with a pop star, and big ups to Gaga for only letting one F-bomb drop during the morning show interview.

    Lady Gaga On KIIS 102.7 With Ryan Seacrest 2010

  • i will never have another first child. there are thunderclouds building in the sky and i already know what i will tell my child when we see these clouds together. see those clouds? they are gray. the color of the sidewalk. of lolo's hair when he doesn't color it. of grandpa's hair under his hat. grownups call it "cumulonimbus". daddy calls it "buggy cloud," or

    fathering mousepoet 2002

  • Everything was clouding over in a cumulonimbus of forgetting.

    Maybe Maybe brian warfield 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

  • For Cadillac and GM's part, the calculation is simple: It costs a few million to develop this, the last and best riff on the CTS, and building it guarantees endless buff-book magazine covers; dozens of YouTube videos featuring the V-Wagon performing fluffy, white cumulonimbus burnouts; and miles of adoring type online and in print.

    Cadillac's Insane, Unnecessary, Awesome Wagon Dan Neil 2011

  • The possibility of being swept away by a cumulonimbus cloud or non-English-speaking tourists drinking frozen lemonade and carrying digital cameras in pedicabs in Central Park?

    Storm Chaser and Tank Blow Into Town Marshall Heyman 2011

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