Definitions

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

  • noun A dull sound, as that of a heavy object striking a solid surface.
  • noun A blow or fall causing such a sound.
  • intransitive verb To make a heavy, dull sound.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The sound produced by a blow upon a comparatively soft substance; a noise like that of a heavy stone striking the ground; hence, a stroke or blow causing a dull, blunt, or hollow sound.
  • noun Synonyms See thump.
  • To push; press.
  • To beat; strike.
  • To drive with impetuosity.
  • To emit a low. dull sound such as is produced by a blow upon a comparatively soft substance.
  • To rush with a hollow sound.
  • To move with velocity: as, “he thudded away,”

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A dull sound without resonance, like that produced by striking with, or striking against, some comparatively soft substance; also, the stroke or blow producing such sound.
  • verb To make, or strike so as to make, a dull sound, or thud.

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

  • noun The sound of a dull impact.
  • noun US, military Republic F-105 Thunderchief jet ground attack fighter.
  • verb To make the sound of a dull impact.

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

  • verb make a noise typical of an engine lacking lubricants
  • verb make a dull sound
  • noun a heavy dull sound (as made by impact of heavy objects)
  • verb strike with a dull sound

Etymologies

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

[Perhaps from Middle English thudden, to strike with a weapon, from Old English thyddan, of imitative origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English thudden ("to strike with a weapon"), from Old English þyddan ("to strike, press, thrust"), from Proto-Germanic *þuddijanan, *þiudijanan (“to strike, thrust”), from Proto-Germanic *þūhanan, *þeuhanan (“to press”), from Proto-Indo-European *tūk- (“to beat”). Cognate with Old English þoddettan ("to strike, push, batter"), Old English þȳdan ("to strike, stab, thrust, press"), Old English þēowan ("to press"), Albanian thundër ("a hoof, talon, a shaft, fig. oppression, torment") .

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Examples

  • Oh! the awful thud, _thud_, THUD, as they hammer the spikes, the cruel spikes into his hands and feet, and he never once cringes.

    Fifteen Years with the Outcast

  • The roar of the flames, the hissing of firebrands sucked upward, the crash of timbers, the shrieks of the foremen through their trumpets, the yells of applause or of sarcasm from the crowd, and the _thud, thud, thud, thud_ of numerous brake bars made a fine pandemonium.

    The Gray Dawn Stewart Edward White 1909

  • The crews sprang to the long brake handles on either side, and at once the regular _thud, thud, thud_ of the pumps took up its rhythm.

    The Gray Dawn Stewart Edward White 1909

  • And then all at once he uttered a gasp as he expired the breath he had held, and _thud, thud, thud, thud_, he felt his heart leap the pulsations keeping on now at a tremendous rate as they beat against his quivering breast.

    Dead Man's Land Being the Voyage to Zimbambangwe of certain and uncertain George Manville Fenn 1870

  • I could hear his breath come hard as the Boers galloped on abreast, closer and closer; and then the _thud, thud, thud_ grew less and less plain, till the sounds gradually became faint in the distance.

    Charge! A Story of Briton and Boer George Manville Fenn 1870

  • Directly after, _thud, thud, thud_ came the sound of men dropping down into the inner cave, and in another moment there was a rude thrust from behind which drove Mike against Vince, and the two boys were forced onward through the opening to the outer cave, the man with the cutlass giving way sufficiently to let them enter, but presenting the point at

    Cormorant Crag A Tale of the Smuggling Days George Manville Fenn 1870

  • The police were about to leave when they heard a shriek followed by a squelchy thud from the outhouse, followed by muffled cursing.

    Shannon Matthews « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2008

  • Not mere "Ew, needles!" willies, but proper [:: thud::] is the sound of Cherie fainting to the floor.

    May 18th, 2005 spidersweb 2005

  • Apparently the selection of Mr. Martinez is being greeted with a thud from the right wing, with several of the more vocal wingnuts referring to him as "Bonehead." "

    November 2006 2006

  • And landing with a thud is a new A.T. Kearney report promoting the ultimate net neut bête noire .

    What Price the Cloud? Jr. Holman W. Jenkins 2011

Comments

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  • Someone nocturnally, in the adjacent corridor, expires:

    I hear a bloody great thud, then someone mutters 'Now, lift'.

    - Peter Reading, C, 1984

    September 28, 2008

  • Sound the an object makes when it falls. The lamp made a thud when it fell on the floor. (newbury dic.)

    December 6, 2010