Definition of "thunderstorm"
A storm consisting of thunder and lightning produced by a cumulonimbus, usually accompanied with heavy rain, wind, and sometimes hail; and in rarer cases sleet, freezing rain, or snow.
Quotations
I have never believed, as some people do, in omens and forewarnings, for the dramatic things in my life have generally come upon me as suddenly as a tropical thunder-storm.
1936 July, John Buchan, “Lost Gods”, in The Island of Sheep, London: Hodder and Stoughton, published July 1938, part I (Fosse), page 11