Meteorologya loud, rolling noise produced by the expansion of air heated by lightning:The children were afraid of thunder.
any loud, resounding noise:a thunder of applause.
v.
to give forth thunder:[no object;it + ~]It thundered all night.
to make a loud, rolling, rumbling noise like thunder:[no object]artillery thundering in the hills.
to speak in a very loud or vehement way; shout: [no object]All day long the boss thundered about the company's losses.[used with quotations]"Watch out,'' the officer thundered, "get out of here now!''
Idioms
Idiomssteal someone's thunder:
to use without credit or permission the ideas of another.
to spoil the effect of another's performance, etc., by doing or saying what (s)he was going to do first.
Meteorologya loud, explosive, resounding noise produced by the explosive expansion of air heated by a lightning discharge.
any loud, resounding noise:the thunder of applause.
a threatening or startling utterance, denunciation, or the like.
steal someone's thunder:
to use for one's own purposes and without the knowledge or permission of the originator the inventions or ideas of another.
to ruin or detract from the effect of a performance, remark, etc., by anticipating it.
v.i.
to give forth thunder (often used impersonally with it as the subject):It thundered last night.
to make a loud, resounding noise like thunder:The artillery thundered in the hills.
to utter loud or vehement denunciations, threats, or the like.
to speak in a very loud tone.
to move or go with a loud noise or violent action:The train thundered through the village.
v.t.
to strike, drive, inflict, give forth, etc., with loud noise or violent action.
bef. 900; (noun, nominal) Middle English thonder, thunder, Old English thunor; cognate with Dutch donder, German Donner; Old Norse thōrr Thor, literally, thunder; (verb, verbal) Middle English thondren, Old English thunrian, derivative of the verb, verbal; akin to Latin tonāre to thunder