storm

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /stɔːm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /stɔɹm/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)m

From Middle English storm (“disturbed state of the atmosphere; heavy precipitation; battle, conflict; attack”) [and other forms],[1] from Old English storm (“tempest, storm; attack; storm of arrows; disquiet, disturbance, tumult, uproar; onrush, rush”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *sturm (“storm”), from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz (“storm”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)twerH- (“to agitate, stir up; to propel; to urge on”).[2] Related to stir.

storm (plural storms)

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; a tempest.

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

   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     We hear this fearful tempest sing, / Yet seek no shelter to avoid the storm.

   • 2012 January 1, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 26 January 2012, page 70:

     Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.

   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.
   2. (by extension) Synonym of cyclone (“a weather phenomenon consisting of a system of winds rotating around a centre of low atmospheric pressure”)
   3. (by extension, Canada, Scotland, US, dated) A period of frosty and/or snowy weather.
   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").
2. (figuratively)
   1. A heavy expulsion or fall of things (as blows, objects which are thrown, etc.).

      a storm of bullets

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

      Synonyms: tempest, tumult

      The proposed reforms have led to a political storm.

      • 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, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

        Her sister / Began to scold and raise up such a storm.

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

      a storm of protest

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

      asthmatic storm    cytokine storm

3. (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”).

• See also Thesaurus:storm

• (meteorology): breeze, gale, hurricane

• → Esperanto: ŝtormo
• → Irish: stoirm
• → Scottish Gaelic: stoirm

• blizzard

The verb is derived from Middle English stormen (“of the wind: to blow violently; to cause to roll or toss”),[3] from storm (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitives of verbs).[4][5]

Compare Middle English sturmen (“to attack (someone) with great force”),[6] from Old English styrman (“to rage, storm; to make a great noise, cry aloud, shout, storm”), from Proto-West Germanic *sturmijan (“to storm”), from Proto-Germanic *sturmijaną (“to storm”), from *sturmaz (“a storm”) (see etymology 1) + *-janą (suffix forming causatives from strong verbs, with a sense of ‘to cause to do [the action of the verb]’).[7] The Middle English word did not survive into modern English.

The noun is derived from verb sense 2.3 (“to violently assault (a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.) with the aim of gaining control of it”).[2]

storm (third-person singular simple present storms, present participle storming, simple past and past participle stormed)

1. (impersonal, chiefly US) 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.

   • 1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., chapter V, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC, page 34:

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

   • 1869, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter III, in The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims’ Progress; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company. […], →OCLC, page 35:

     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)
   1. To make (someone or something) stormy; to agitate (someone or something) violently.
      • 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, →OCLC, signature K, verso:

        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.

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

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

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

        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.

   2. (figuratively)
      1. To disturb or trouble (someone).

         Synonyms: see Thesaurus:annoy

      2. To use (harsh language).
   3. (chiefly military) 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.

      • 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, →OCLC, stanza II, page 112:

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

      • 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, […], →OCLC, pages 259–260:

        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.

      • 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, →OCLC, page 278:

        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.

      1. (figuratively, often poetic) To assault or gain control or power over (someone's heart, mind, etc.).
         • 1750 March 27 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Thomas Morell (lyrics); George Frideric Handel (music), Theodora: An Oratorio […], London: […] I. Walsh […], published [1751], →OCLC, page 17:

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

   4. (Britain, dialectal, agriculture) To protect (seed-hay) from stormy weather by putting sheaves of them into small stacks.
3. (intransitive)
   1. Of the weather: to be violent, with strong winds and usually lightning and thunder, and/or hail, rain, or snow.
      • 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “December. Aegloga Duodecima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC; reprinted as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, The Shepheardes Calender […], London: John C. Nimmo, […], 1890, →OCLC, folio 50, verso:

        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.

      • [1611?], Homer, “Book I”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume I, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC, pages 30–31:

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

        The spelling has been modernized. A figurative use.

      • 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, →OCLC, page 159:

        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: […]

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

         She stormed out of the room.

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

           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; […]

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

           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.

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

           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.

      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.
         • 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, […], 6th edition, volume II, London: […] [Humphrey Lownes] for the Company of Stationers, →OCLC, book VIII, page 982, column 1:

           [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.

         • 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, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

           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, […]

         • [1611?], Homer, “Book V”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume I, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC, page 145:

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

           The spelling has been modernized.

         • 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, →OCLC, page 102:

           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: […]

         • 1741, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXI. [Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the 32d, 33d, and 34th Days of My Imprisonment].”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], 3rd edition, volume I, London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […]; and J. Osborn, […], →OCLC, page 239:

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

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

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

           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!

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

           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.

storm (plural storms)

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

• storm on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Beaufort scale on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Storm in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

• Morts, morts

From Dutch storm.

• IPA^(key): /stɔrm/, [stɔɾm], [ˈstɔɾəm]
• The plural is almost always disyllabic.

• Audio

  (file)

storm (plural storms)

1. storm

From Old Norse stormr (“storm”), from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)twer-, *(s)tur- (“to rotate, swirl, twirl, move around”).

storm c (singular definite stormen, plural indefinite storme)

1. storm

storm

1. imperative of storme

• IPA^(key): /stɔrm/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: storm
• Rhymes: -ɔrm

From Middle Dutch storm, from Old Dutch *storm, from Proto-West Germanic *sturm, from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz.

storm m (plural stormen, diminutive stormpje n)

1. storm; a wind scale for very strong wind, stronger than a gale, less than a hurricane.
2. (of sieges or battles) assault, storming

   Synonym: bestorming

Unlike English storm, the Dutch word is not associated with rainfall. A storm may, of course, be accompanied by rainfall, but the word as such refers only to strong winds.

• stormen
• stormachtig
• stormvloed
• stormweer
• stormwind
• beeldenstorm
• hagelstorm
• regenstorm
• sneeuwstorm
• stormmeeuw
• wervelstorm
• zandstorm
• zeestorm

• Afrikaans: storm
• Negerhollands: storm
• → Papiamentu: storm

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

storm

1. inflection of stormen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

• morst

storm

1. indefinite accusative singular of stormur

From Old Dutch *storm, from Proto-West Germanic *sturm.

storm m

1. storm, violent weather
2. storm, heavy wind
3. storm, assault

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

• Dutch: storm
• Limburgish: stórm

• “storm (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “storm”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

• storme, strom, starme, storem (all but the first are rare)

Inherited from Old English storm.

• IPA^(key): /stɔrm/

storm (plural stormes)

1. A storm; an instance of intense wind and precipitation (including a snowstorm)
2. An armed dispute, brawl or fight; an instance of combativeness.
3. (rare) Any intense event, happening, or force.

• stormy

• English: storm
  • → Esperanto: ŝtormo
  • → Irish: stoirm
  • → Scottish Gaelic: stoirm
• Scots: storm
• Yola: stharm, starm

• “storm, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-10-08.

From Old Norse stormr, from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)twer-, *(s)tur- (“to rotate, swirl, twirl, move around”).

storm m (definite singular stormen, indefinite plural stormer, definite plural stormene)

1. a storm

   En kraftig storm er venta seinere i dag.

   A strong storm is expected to hit later today.

   en storm i et vannglass - a storm in a teacup (British)

• storme

storm

1. imperative of storme

• “storm” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Old Norse stormr, from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)twer-, *(s)tur- (“to rotate, swirl, twirl, move around”). Akin to English storm.

• IPA^(key): /stɔrm/

storm m (definite singular stormen, indefinite plural stormar, definite plural stormane)

1. storm (a very strong wind, stronger than a gale, less than a hurricane)

   Ein kraftig storm er venta seinare i dag.

   A strong storm is expected to hit later today.

• “storm” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• stearm

From Proto-West Germanic *sturm, whence also Old Saxon storm, Old High German sturm, Old Norse stormr.

• IPA^(key): /storm/, [storˠm]

storm m

1. storm

• Middle English: storm
  • English: storm
    • → Esperanto: ŝtormo
    • → Irish: stoirm
    • → Scottish Gaelic: stoirm
  • Scots: storm
  • Yola: stharm, starm

From Old Swedish stormber, from Old Norse stormr, from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)twer-, *(s)tur- (“to rotate, swirl, twirl, move around”).

• IPA^(key): /stɔrm/

• Audio (Phrase including indefinite article: en storm, literally 'a storm'. Female speaker from Gotland, Sweden.)

  (file)

storm c

1. storm; heavy winds or weather associated with storm winds.

• ta någon med storm
• storma
• storma in
• snöstorm
• höststorm

• smort