Definition of "storm"

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; a tempest.  quotations

1. (by extension) A heavy fall of precipitation (hail, rain, or snow) or bout of lightning and thunder without strong winds; a hail storm, rainstorm, snowstorm, or thunderstorm.  examples

2. (by extension) Synonym of cyclone (“a weather phenomenon consisting of a system of winds rotating around a centre of low atmospheric pressure”)  examples

3. (by extension, Canada, Scotland, US, dated) A period of frosty and/or snowy weather.  examples

4. (meteorology) A disturbed state of the atmosphere between a severe or strong gale and a hurricane on the modern Beaufort scale, with a wind speed of between 89 and 102 kilometres per hour (55–63 miles per hour; 10 on the scale, known as a "storm" or whole gale), or of between 103 and 117 kilometres per hour (64–72 miles per hour; 11 on the scale, known as a "violent storm").

(figurative)

1. A heavy expulsion or fall of things (as blows, objects which are thrown, etc.).  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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: […]

     1600, [Torquato Tasso], “The Eleuenth Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, stanza 34, page 202

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

     1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, lines 544–546

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

     1817, [Walter Scott], “Canto Sixth”, in Harold the Dauntless; […], Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], stanza XV, page 194

   • 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.A figurative use.

     1833 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “St. Simeon Stylites”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, page 53

2. A violent agitation of human society; a domestic, civil, or political commotion.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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.

     c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene i], page 211, column 2

   • 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: […]

     1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene i], page 133, column 1

   • [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.The spelling has been modernized.

     1613, Francis Bacon, “A.D. 1613, July–December. Ætat. 53. The Charge of Sir Francis Bacon, Knight, His Majesty’s Attorney-General, Touching Duels; […].”, in James Spedding, editor, The Works of Francis Bacon, […]: The Letters and the Life of Francis Bacon […], volume IV, London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, published 1858, page 400

   • 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.

     1739, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, “Acts iv. 29.”, in Hymns and Sacred Poems, London: […] William Strahan; and sold by James Hutton, […]; and at Mr. Bray’s, […], part II, stanza VI, page 203

   • But they were all speedily thrown into the shade by two younger Whigs [Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax and John Somers, 1st Baron Somers], who, on this great day, took their seats for the first time, who soon rose to the highest honors of the state, who weathered together the fiercest storms of faction, […]

     1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter X, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, page 623

   • Pa told me, only yesterday morning, (and dreadfully unhappy he is) that he couldn't weather the storm. […] I should like to make out how Pa is to weather the storm. I declare if I was Pa, I'd run away!

     1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “Deportment”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, page 131

3. A violent commotion or outbreak of sounds, speech, thoughts, etc.; also, an outpouring of emotion.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • [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?

     1611, [Miles Smith], “The Translators to the Reader”, in The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […]

   • With storms of whistlings then his flock he drave / Up to the mountains; […]The spelling has been modernized.

     1614–1615, Homer, “The Ninth Book of Homer’s Odysseys”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume I, London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, page 211, lines 43–44

   • 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.

     1693, Aulus Persius Flaccus, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus.] The First Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], page 6

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

     1712 June 28 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “TUESDAY, June 17, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 407; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, page 13

   • Theſe, and a thouſand mixt emotions more, / From ever-changing vievvs of good and ill, / Form'd infinitely various, vex the mind / VVith endleſs ſtorm: […]

     1728, James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, page 13, lines 296–299

   • The ſtrings are ſvvept vvith ſuch a povv'r, ſo loud, / The ſtorm of muſic ſhakes th' aſtoniſh'd crovvd.

     1781 (date written), William Cowper, “Table Talk”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], page 26

   • [Y]et a moment, and once more / The trumpet, and again: at which the storm / Of galloping hoofs bare on the ridge of spears / And riders front to front, until they closed / In the middle with the crash of shivering points, / And thunder.

     1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part V”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], page 117

   • He betrayed, however, no sign of fear or of shame, and faced the storm of invective which burst upon him for bar, bench, and witness box, with the insolence of despair.

     1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter IV, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, page 484

   • Sir Aylmer reddening from the storm within, / Then broke all bonds of courtesy, […]

     1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Aylmer’s Field”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], page 68

   • When his playfellows ran after the dogs in their fanatic thirst, he ran too, but with a storm of other feelings.

     1894 January–July, Hall Caine, chapter IV, in The Manxman, London: William Heinemann, published 3 August 1894 (1 September 1894 printing), part I (Boys Together), page 17

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

   Quotations

   • 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.

     1612, [Miguel de Cervantes], Thomas Shelton, transl., “Wherein are Rehearsed the Innumerable Misfortunes which Don-Quixote and His Good Squire Sancho Suffered in the Inne, which He to His Harme Thought to be a Castle”, in The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha. […], London: […] William Stansby, for Ed[ward] Blount and W. Barret, part 3, page 136

(Canada, US, chiefly in the 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”).  examples

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

(transitive)

1. To make (someone or something) stormy; to agitate (someone or something) violently.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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.

     1609, William Shakespeare, “A Louers Complaint”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, signature K, verso

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

     1878, Robert Browning, “The Two Poets of Croisic”, in La Saisiaz: The Two Poets of Croisic, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], stanza 64, page 127

   • 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.

     1891 January, Rudyard Kipling, chapter XV, in The Light that Failed, London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published March 1891, pages 334–335

2. (figurative)

   1. To disturb or trouble (someone).  examples

   2. To use (harsh language).  examples

3. (chiefly military) To violently assault (a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.) with the aim of gaining control of it.  quotations

   Quotations

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

     1692 (date written), Matthew Prior, “Ode; in Imitation of Horace, 3 Od. ii.”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior […], volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan, […], published 1779, stanza II, page 112

   • 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.

     1820 July, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Philip of Pokanoket. An Indian Memoir.”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., 1st UK edition, volume II, London: John Murray, […], pages 259–260

   • The crowd was patient and never dreamed of storming Chungnanhai (which could scarcely have resisted a mass assault) and the most battle-tested groups made no attempt to send their commandos to kidnap the “highest leader.” Calm—if one may use the word—prevailed, and the group leaders were content to lead their followers in chanting slogans against Liu [Shaoqi] and quotations from Mao [Zedong]. The Chairman, like Vice-Chairman Lin Piao, had been away on a tour of inspection in the provinces since early July; at the time of the siege of Chungnanhai, he was in Wuhan.

     1974, K. S. Karol, “The August of the Ultra-Left”, in Mervyn Jones, transl., The Second Chinese Revolution […], New York, N.Y.: Hill and Wang, page 278

   1. (figurative, often poetic) To assault or gain control or power over (someone's heart, mind, etc.).  quotations  examples

      Quotations

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

        1750 March 27 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Thomas Morell (lyrics), George Frideric Handel (music), Theodora: An Oratorio […], London: […] I. Walsh […], published , page 17

4. (Britain, dialectal, agriculture) To protect (seed-hay) from stormy weather by putting sheaves of them into small stacks.  examples

(intransitive)

1. Of the weather: to be violent, with strong winds and usually lightning and thunder, and/or hail, rain, or snow.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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.

     1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “December. Aegloga Duodecima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […]; reprinted as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, The Shepheardes Calender […], London: John C. Nimmo, […], 1890, folio 50, verso

   • [H]e, whose bow thus storm'd / For our offences, may be calm'd.The spelling has been modernized. A figurative use.

     , Homer, “Book I”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter; The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume I, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, pages 30–31

   • 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: […]

     1612, Michael Drayton, “The Tenth Song”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] H[umphrey] L[ownes] for Mathew Lownes; I. Browne; I. Helme; I. Busbie, published 1613, page 159

   • [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, […]

     1677, Tho Wright, and R. Chiswell, page 11

2. To be exposed to harsh (especially cold) weather.  examples

3. (figurative)

   1. To move noisily and quickly like a storm (noun sense 1), usually in a state of anger or uproar.  quotations  examples

      Quotations

      • 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; […]

        1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Vision of Sin”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], page 214

      • 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.

        1855, Alfred Tennyson, “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, in Maud, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], stanza 2, page 152

      • 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.

        1960 October, P. Ransome-Wallis, “Modern Motive Power of the German Federal Railway: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, page 611

   2. (by extension, chiefly military) To move quickly in the course of an assault on a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.

   3. To be in a violent temper; to use harsh language; to fume, to rage.  quotations  examples

      Quotations

      • [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.

        1610 October, John Foxe, “The Life and Storie of the True Seruant and Martyr of God William Tindall: Who for His Notable Paines and Trauell may Well bee Called the Apostle of England in This our Latter Age”, in The Second Volume of the Ecclesiasticall Historie, Containing the Acts and Monuments of Martyrs, for the Company of Stationers, book VIII, page 982, column 1

      • 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, […]

        c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, [Act I, scene iii]

      • O Father, storm'st thou not / To see us take these wrongs from men?The spelling has been modernized.

        , Homer, “Book V”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter; The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume I, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, page 145

      • 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: […]

        1731 (date written, published 1745), Jonathan Swift, “[Directions to Servants.] Rules that Concern All Servants in General.”, in Thomas Sheridan and John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume XVI, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, page 102

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

        1741, page 239

      • I shall offer to pay him to-morrow; he will rant and storm about his love for you, and there will be an end of the matter.

        1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XVII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], page 299

      • I know the Pacha's haughty mood / To thee hath never boded good; / And he so often storms at nought, / Allah! forbid that e'er he ought!

        1813 December 2 (date written), Lord Byron, “Canto I. Stanza XIII.”, in The Bride of Abydos. A Turkish Tale, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], for John Murray, […], page 22, lines 439–442

      • I do not want to storm at the man who made her life so burdensome. Too many years have passed for that, nor would Nanny take it kindly if I called her man names.

        1889, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, “The Tragedy of a Wife”, in A Window in Thrums, London: Hodder and Stoughton, […], page 108

(military) A violent assault on a fortified position or stronghold.