See Also: Red Cloud(encyclopedia)
cloud(2)(dictionary)
cloud(1)(dictionary)
St Cloud(dictionary)
cloud(encyclopedia)
cloud 1, noun(dictionary)
cloud 2, verb(dictionary)
mushroom cloud(dictionary)
storm cloud(dictionary)
cloud chamber(encyclopedia)

cloud(1) (iou)



cloud noun.
[Old English clud, prob. rel. to CLOT noun.]
A mass of rock, earth, etc.; a hill. Long obsolete exc. local in place-names. OE.
(A mass of) visible condensed water vapour suspended in the atmosphere high over the general level of the ground; in pl. also, the sky, the heavens. ME.
a cloud on the horizon an indication of future trouble. in the clouds mystical, unreal, imaginary; (of a person) abstracted, inattentive. Land of the Long White Cloud: see LAND noun1. LENTICULAR cloud. on cloud seven, on cloud nine colloq. extremely happy. with one's head in the clouds unrealistic(ally); living in a world of fantasy.
Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet She is advanc'd Above the clouds, as high as heaven itself. L. Deighton Big rain clouds raced across the moon. K. A. Porter La Condesa rose lightly as a cloud. Anthony Huxley Cloud may reduce light intensity to as little as five per cent of that of the full sun.
A thing that darkens or overshadows with gloom, trouble, suspicion, etc.; obscurity; a state of gloom, trouble, etc.; a frowning or depressed look. ME.
under a cloud out of favour, discredited.
J. Heath-Stubbs A dark cloud of suspicion broods over all.
An airborne suspension of smoke, dust, etc.; a hazy aggregation of gas, particles, etc. LME.
blow a cloud: see BLOW verb1. mushroom cloud: see MUSHROOM noun & adjective.
H. E. Bates The tractor seemed to draw behind it a brown and smoky cloud.
b. Astronomy. A hazy area in the night sky produced by the light of distant stars; a nebula; a region of dust, gas, etc., in deep space appearing lighter or darker owing to the reflection, absorption, etc., of light. M16.
MAGELLANIC Cloud.
A great number of birds, insects, persons, etc., moving together. LME.
Oort cloud, Oort comet cloud, Oort's cloud, Oort's comet cloud: see OORT 2.
A thing that obscures or conceals. E16.
C. V. Wedgwood The cloud of conjecture which obscures Cromwell's actions and motives.
b. A region of dimness or obscurity in an otherwise clear or transparent body or liquid; a fuzzy patch or spot, spec. of another colour on the face of a horse. M16.
c. A light loosely knitted woollen scarf or shawl. Now arch. & Canad. dial. L19.
Comb.: cloudburst a sudden violent rainstorm; cloud-castle a daydream; cloud chamber Physics a container of air or gas supersaturated with water vapour, used to detect charged particles by the condensation trails which they produce; cloud cover cloud that covers (much of) the sky; the extent to which the sky is covered by cloud; cloud-cuckoo-land [translating Greek Nephelokokkugia (nephele cloud, kokkux cuckoo) in Aristophanes' Birds] a fanciful or ideal realm; cloud-hopping (of aircraft) flying from cloud to cloud esp. for concealment; cloud-land utopia, fairyland; cloudscape a picture or picturesque grouping of clouds; cloud seeder a person who or thing which seeds clouds with crystals to cause rain; cloud seeding the seeding of clouds with crystals; cloud street a line of cumulus clouds formed parallel to the wind direction.
cloudless adjective LME.
cloudlessness noun M19.
cloudlet noun a little cloud L18.
cloudlike adjective & adverb (a) adjective resembling (that of) a cloud; (b) adverb in the manner of a cloud: M17.