cloudburst

See also: cloud-burst and cloud burst

English

WOTD – 21 May 2012

Alternative forms

• cloud-burst

Etymology

cloud +‎ burst

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈklaʊdˌbɝst/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈklaʊdˌbɜːst/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cloud‧burst

Noun

cloudburst (plural cloudbursts)

1. A sudden heavy rainstorm.
   • 1899, Edith Wharton, “A Cup of Cold Water”, in The Greater Inclination:

     [B]ut the sound . . . expressed an utter abandonment to grief; not the cloud-burst of some passing emotion, but the slow down-pour of a whole heaven of sorrow.

   • 1908, Stewart Edward White, chapter 38, in The Riverman:

     A cloudburst in the China Creek district followed by continued heavy rains was responsible for the increased water.

   • 1936 August 17, “Miscellany”, in Time, retrieved 20 May 2014:

     In Uniontown, Pa., John Walchesky & family rushed from their house when lightning set it afire, rushed in again when a cloudburst put out the blaze.

   • 2007 Feb. 25, Norman Howard, "Devotion, chapter 1" (book excerpt), New York Times (retrieved 20 May 2014):

     [H]e walked across the lawn, wet from a fleeting late-afternoon cloudburst, the first rain in a month.

Synonyms

• cloudbust

Translations

sudden heavy rainstorm

• Armenian: տարափ (hy) (tarapʿ)
• Belarusian: лі́вень m (lívjenʹ)
• Bulgarian: порой (bg) m (poroj)
• Catalan: xàfec (ca) m
• Czech: průtrž mračen, liják (cs)
• Danish: skybrud (da) n
• Dutch: wolkbreuk (nl) f
• Finnish: rankkasade (fi)
• French: averse (fr) f
• German: Wolkenbruch (de) m
• Hungarian: felhőszakadás (hu)
• Irish: maidhm bháistí f
• Italian: nubifragio (it), scroscio (it), rovescio (it), acquazzone (it)
• Japanese: 豪雨 (ja) (ごうう, gōu)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: по́рој m (póroj), по́ројник m (pórojnik) (literary)
• Malay: hujan curah
• Malayalam: മേഘസ്ഫോടനം (mēghasphōṭanaṁ)
• Norwegian: styrtregn n

  Bokmål: skybrudd n, skybrott n

  Nynorsk: skybrot n, skybrott n

• Persian: رگبار پراکنده (ragbâr-e parâkande), شغال باران (šoğâl-bârân)
• Plautdietsch: Wolkjenbruch m
• Polish: oberwanie chmury (pl) n
• Portuguese: aguaceiro (pt) m, chuveiro (pt) m
• Romanian: rupere de nori (ro) f
• Russian: ли́вень (ru) m (lívenʹ)
• Spanish: aguacero (es) m, gota fría f
• Sranan Tongo: sibibusi
• Swedish: störtskur (sv) c, skyfall (sv) n, störtregn (sv) n, spöregn (sv) n, hällregn (sv) n, ösregn (sv) n
• Ukrainian: зли́ва (uk) f (zlýva)
• Welsh: torgwmwl m, cwmwl yn torri m, cwmwl wedi torri m
• Yiddish: וואָלקנבראָך m (volknbrokh), וואָלקנבראָךן m pl (volknbrokhn)