storm

noun

1. Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation.

   “Near-synonyms: cyclone (broad sense), tempest”

   “The boat was torn to pieces in the storm, and nobody survived.”

   “Thou toyl'ſt in perrill, and the vvindie ſtorme, / Doth topſide-turuey toſſe thee as thou floteſt.”

   “But ſeeing that there the murdring Enemie, / Peſle-meſle, purſued them like a ſtorme of hayle, / They gan retyre vvhere Iuba vvas encampt; […]”

   “[W]e heare this fearefull tempeſt ſing, / Yet ſeeke no ſhelter to auoid the ſtorme: / We ſee the vvind ſit ſore vpon our ſailes.”

2. (broadly)Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation.
3. (broadly)Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation.
4. (Canada, Scotland, US, broadly, dated)Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation.
5. Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation.
6. (figuratively)A heavy expulsion or fall of things (as blows, objects which are thrown, etc.).

   “a storm of bullets”

   “Adrastus firſt aduanſt his creſt aloft, / And boldly gan a ſtrong ſcalado reare, / And through the falling ſtorme did vpward clime / Of ſtones, dartes, arrovves, fire, pitch and lime: […]”

   “[F]or this day will pour down, / If I conjecture aught, no drizling ſhowr, / But ratling ſtorm of Arrows barbd with fire.”

   “Then rose / His mace, and with a storm of blows / The mortal and the demon close.”

   “I will not cease to grasp the hope I hold / Of saintdom, and to clamour, mourn and sob, / Battering the gates of heaven with storms of prayer, / Have mercy, Lord, and take away my sin.”

7. (figuratively)A violent agitation of human society; a domestic, civil, or political commotion.

   “The proposed reforms have led to a political storm.”

   “Savv you no more? Mark'd you not hovv hir ſiſter / Began to ſcold, and raiſe vp ſuch a ſtorme, / That moral eares might hardly indure the din.”

   “VVhiles I in Ireland nouriſh a mightie Band, / I vvill ſtirre vp in England ſome black Storme, / Shall blovve then thouſand Soules to Heauen, or Hell: […]”

   “[When] private men begin once to presume to give law to themselves, and to right their own wrongs, no man can foresee the dangers and inconveniences that may arise and multiply thereupon. It may cause sudden storms in Court, to the disturbance of his Majesty, and unsafety of his person.”

   “Bold may I vvax, exceeding bold / My high Commiſſion to perform, / Nor ſhrink thy harſheſt Truths t' unfold, / But more than meet the gathering Storm.”

8. (figuratively)A violent commotion or outbreak of sounds, speech, thoughts, etc.; also, an outpouring of emotion.

   “a storm of protest”

   “[W]as there euer any thing proiected, that fauoured any vvay of nevvneſſe or renevving, but the ſame endured many a ſtorme of gaine-ſaying, or oppoſition?”

   “With storms of whistlings then his flock he drave / Up to the mountains; […]”

   “The Proſe is Fuſtian, and the Numbers lame. All Noiſe, and empty Pomp, a ſtorm of vvords, / Lab'ring vvith ſound, that little Sence affords.”

   “[H]ow much more they would have been alarmed had they heard him actually throwing out such a storm of eloquence?”

9. (figuratively)Chiefly with a qualifying word: a violent attack of diease, pain, physiological reactions, symptoms, etc.; a paroxysm.

   “asthmatic storm    cytokine storm”

   “He ſvvet and ſvvet againe vvith ſuch exceſſiue ſvvoonings, as not only himſelfe, but likevviſe all the beholders, did verily deeme, that his life vvas ending. This ſtorme and miſhappe endured about ſome tvvo hovvres, after vvhich hee remayned not cured as his Maſter, but ſo vveary and indiſpoſed, as hee vvas not able to ſtand.”

10. (Canada, US, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, in-plural)Ellipsis of storm window (“a second window (originally detachable) attached on the exterior side of a window in climates with harsh winters, to add an insulating layer of still air between the outside and inside”).
11. A violent assault on a fortified position or stronghold.

verb

1. (US, impersonal)Preceded by the dummy subject it: to have strong winds and usually lightning and thunder, and/or hail, rain, or snow.

   “It stormed throughout the night.”

   “Throughout the night it stormed violently—rain, hail, snow, and sleet beating upon the vessel—the wind continuing ahead, and the sea running high.”

   “We all like to see people seasick when we are not, ourselves. Playing whist by the cabin lamps when it is storming outside, is pleasant; walking the quarter-deck in the moonlight, is pleasant; […] but these are all feeble and commonplace compared with the joy of seeing people suffering the miseries of seasickness.”

2. (transitive)To make (someone or something) stormy; to agitate (someone or something) violently.

   “And dovvne I laid to liſt the ſad tun'd tale, / Ere long eſpied a fickle maid full pale / Tearing of papers breaking rings a tvvaine, / Storming her vvorld vvith ſorrovves, vvind and raine.”

   “Meantime, our simulated thunderclaps / Which tell us counterfeited truths—these same / Are—sound, when music storms the soul, perhaps?”

   “The driver turned in the saddle to see if there were any chance of capturing the revolver and ending the ride. Dick roused, struck him over the head with the butt, and stormed himself wide awake.”

3. (figuratively, transitive)To disturb or trouble (someone).
4. (figuratively, transitive)To use (harsh language).
5. (transitive)To violently assault (a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.) with the aim of gaining control of it.

   “the storming of the Bastille”

   “Troops stormed the complex.”

   “All night beneath hard heavy arms to vvatch; / All day to mount the trench, to ſtorm the breach; […]”

   “The assailants were repulsed in their first attack, and several of their bravest officers were shot down in the act of storming the fortress, sword in hand.”

6. (figuratively, often, poetic, transitive)To violently assault (a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.) with the aim of gaining control of it.

   “No Engines can a Tyrant find, / to ſtorm the Truth-ſupported Mind, […]”

7. (broadly, especially, transitive)To catch up (on production output) by making frenzied or herculean efforts.

   “They were storming near the end of the month to salvage some goodwill.”

8. (British, dialectal, transitive)To protect (seed-hay) from stormy weather by putting sheaves of them into small stacks.
9. (intransitive)Of the weather: to be violent, with strong winds and usually lightning and thunder, and/or hail, rain, or snow.

   “My harueſte haſts to ſtirre vp winter ſterne, / And bids him clayme with rigorous rage hys right. / So nowe he ſtormes with many a ſturdy ſtoure, / So now his bluſtring blaſt eche coſte doth ſcoure.”

   “[H]e, whose bow thus storm'd / For our offences, may be calm'd.”

   “From Shetland ſtradling vvide, his [Boreas's] foote on Thuly ſets: / VVhence ſtorming, all the vaſt Deucalidon hee threts, / And beares his boyſtrous vvaues into the narrovver mouth / Of the Verginian Sea: […]”

   “[A]fter a ſhort calm vve obſerved the Ocean firſt to ferment and heave, and then to vvrinkle her ſmooth face, and veering into a contrary romp at length to pull and bluſter, yea next day to ſtorm ſo outrageouſly, that the Sea men themſelves to my apprehenſion, had ſome fear, […]”

10. (intransitive)To be exposed to harsh (especially cold) weather.
11. (figuratively, intransitive)To move noisily and quickly like a storm (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1), usually in a state of anger or uproar.

    “She stormed out of the room.”

    “Then the music touch'd the gates and died; / Rose again from where it seem'd to fail, / Storm'd in orbs of song, a growing gale; […]”

    “Storm'd at with shot and shell, / Boldly they rode and well; / Into the jaws of Death, / Into the mouth of Hell, / Rode the six hundred.”

    “A lovely crisp exhaust: a feeling of almost unlimited power combined with complete freedom of running: and, to crown it all, a most melodious and wholly American chime whistle—these were my immediate impressions as we stormed rapidly out of Göttingen, intent on winning back some of the lost time.”

12. (broadly, figuratively, intransitive)To move quickly in the course of an assault on a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.
13. (figuratively, intransitive)To be in a violent temper; to use harsh language; to fume, to rage.

    “[T]he prieſts of the countrey cluſtering togither, began to grudge and ſtorme againſt Tindall [William Tyndale], rauing againſt him in alehouſes and other places.”

    “VVhy looke you hovv you ſtorme, / I vvould be friends vvith you, and haue your loue, / Forget the ſhames that you haue ſtain'd me vvith, […]”

    “O Father, storm'st thou not / To see us take these wrongs from men?”

    “It often happens, that servants sent on messages are apt to stay out somewhat longer than the message requires, […] when you return, the master storms, the lady scolds; stripping, cudgelling, and turning off is the word. But here you ought to be provided with a set of excuses, enough to serve on all occasions: […]”

    “Bleſs me! ſhe curſes and ſtorms at me like a Trooper, and can hardly keep her Hands off me.”

name

1. A unisex given name.