Lightning vs Storm - What's the difference?

As a noun lightning

is a flash of light produced by short-duration, high-voltage discharge of electricity within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the earth.

As an adjective lightning

is extremely fast or sudden.

As a verb lightning

is (impersonal|childish|or|nonstandard) to produce lightning.

As a proper noun storm is

lightning

English

(wikipedia lightning) (wikiversity lightning lecture)

Noun

(en-noun)

A flash of light produced by short-duration, high-voltage discharge of electricity within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the earth.

Although we did not see the lightning , we did hear the thunder.

* 1901 , E. L. Morris, The Child's Eden , page 16:

It was the thought of hot July and August days, when the clouds piled up like woolly mountains, and lightnings streaked the sky.

A discharge of this kind.

The lightning was hot enough to melt the sand.

That tree was hit by lightning .

* 1881 , Daniel Pierce Thompson, The Green Mountain Boys , page 281:

The rain at length ceased; and the lightnings , as they played along the black parapet of clouds, that lay piled in the east, shone with less dazzling fierceness,

(figuratively) Anything that moves very fast.

* 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), , chapter V:

Nobs, though, was lightning by comparison with the slow thinking beast and dodged his opponent's thrust with ease. Then he raced to the rear of the tremendous thing and seized it by the tail.

The act of making bright, or the state of being made bright; enlightenment; brightening, as of the mental powers.

(Webster 1913)

Quotations

* 2008 , Kathy Clark, Stand By Your Man , page 280: *: Manny drove a few miles per hour under the speed limit, entranced by the awesome display of lightning streaking out of the clouds toward earth.

Derived terms

* ball lightning * Jewish lightning * greased lightning * lightning bug * lightning bolt * lightning conductor * lightning detector * lightning in a bottle * lightning rod * sheet lightning * upward lightning

Coordinate terms

* thunderbolt

Adjective

(-)

Extremely fast or sudden.

Moving at the speed of lightning.

Verb

(en verb)

(impersonal, childish, or, nonstandard) To produce lightning.

* 1916 , Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Understood Betsy

Or if it thundered and lightninged , Aunt Frances always dropped everything she might be doing and held Elizabeth Ann tightly in her arms until it was all over.

* 1968 , Dan Greenburg, Chewsday: a sex novel

The next day, though it is not only raining but thundering and lightninging as well, antiquing is seen by three-fourths of those present as a lesser evil than free play.

* 1987 , Tricia Springstubb, Eunice Gottlieb and the unwhitewashed truth about life

"Hey!" yelled Reggie, pulling her back. "Get in here! It's lightninging . I don't want a charcoal-broiled friend!"

* 1988 , Carlo Collodi, Roberto Innocenti, The adventures of Pinocchio

I don't know, Father, but believe me, it has been a horrible night — one that I'll never forget. It thundered and lightninged , and I was very hungry.

Usage notes

* bolt, flash, strike are some of the words used to count lightning. * The standard, but rare, verb for "lightning occurs" is lighten, used only in the impersonal form "it lightens", or as "it’s lightening".

storm

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) storm, from (etyl) . Related to (l).

Noun

(en noun)

Any disturbed state of the atmosphere, especially as affecting the earth's surface, and strongly implying destructive or unpleasant weather.

* Shakespeare

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

* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01

, author=Donald Worster , title=A Drier and Hotter Future , volume=100, issue=1, page=70 , magazine= citation , passage=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.}}

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

The proposed reforms have led to a political storm .

* Shakespeare

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

(meteorology) a wind scale for very strong wind, stronger than a gale, less than a hurricane (10 or higher on the Beaufort scale).

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

Hyponyms

* See also

Coordinate terms

* (meteorology) breeze, gale, hurricane

Derived terms

* barnstorm * bestorm * duststorm * leafstorm * sandstorm * snowstorm * storm in a tea-kettle * stormlike * stormtrooper * stormy * thunderstorm * windstorm

Etymology 2

From (etyl) stormen, sturmen, from (etyl) .

Verb

(en verb)

To move quickly and noisily like a storm, usually in a state of uproar or anger.

She stormed out of the room.

To assault (a stronghold or fortification) with military forces.

Troops stormed the complex.

External links

* (wikipedia) * (projectlink) * 1000 English basic words ----