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Cloudburst vs Torrent - What's the difference?

cloudburst | torrent | Related terms |

Cloudburst is a related term of torrent.


As nouns the difference between cloudburst and torrent

is that cloudburst is a sudden heavy rainstorm while torrent is a violent flow, as of water, lava, etc; a stream suddenly raised and running rapidly, as down a precipice or torrent can be (internet|file sharing) a set of files obtainable through a peer-to-peer network, especially bittorrent.

As an adjective torrent is

rolling or rushing in a rapid stream.

As a verb torrent is

(internet slang|transitive) to download in a torrent.

cloudburst

English

(wikipedia cloudburst)

Alternative forms

* cloud-burst

Noun

(en noun)
  • A sudden heavy rainstorm.
  • * 1899 , , "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 , , The Riverman , ch. 38:
    • A cloudburst in the China Creek district followed by continued heavy rains was responsible for the increased water.
  • * 1936 Aug. 17, " Miscellany," 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, , " 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

    torrent

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) torrent

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A violent flow, as of water, lava, etc.; a stream suddenly raised and running rapidly, as down a precipice.
  • * (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
    • The roaring torrent is deep and wide.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=28, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= High and wet , passage=Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale.
  • (figurative) A large amount or stream of something.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 21, author=Helen Pidd, work=the Guardian
    • , title= Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis , passage=A new stream of migrants is leaving the continent. It threatens to become a torrent if the debt crisis continues to worsen.}}
  • * {{quote-book, passage=The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees, / The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, / The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor ...
    • , title=, author=Alfred Noyes, year=1906}}
    Derived terms
    * torrential * torrentiality * torrentially

    See also

    * barrage * inundate * deluge * torrential

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Rolling or rushing in a rapid stream.
  • * Milton
    • Waves of torrent fire.

    Etymology 2

    From BitTorrent and the file extension it uses for metadata (.torrent).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Internet, file sharing) A set of files obtainable through a peer-to-peer network, especially BitTorrent.
    • I got a torrent of the complete works of Shakespeare the other day; I'm not sure why.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (internet slang) To download in a torrent.
    • The video rental place didn't have the film I was after, but I managed to torrent it.
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