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To express violently, commandingly, or angrily; roar.
[Middle English, from Old English thunor.]
thunderer thun'der·er n.The acoustic radiation produced by thermal lightning channel processes. The lightning return stroke is a high surge of electric current that has a very short duration, depositing approximately 95% of its electrical energy during the first 20 microseconds. Spectroscopic studies have shown that the lightning channel is heated to temperatures in the 20,000–30,000 K (36,000–54,000°F) range by this process. The pressure of the hot channel exceeds 10 atm (>106 pascals). The hot, high-pressure channel expands supersonically and forms a shock wave as it pushes against the surrounding air. Because of the momentum gained in expanding, the shock wave overshoots, causing the pressure in the core of the channel to go below atmospheric pressure temporarily. The outward-propagating wave separates from the core of the channel, forming an N-shaped wave that eventually decays into an acoustic wavelet. See also
The sound that is eventually heard or detected, thunder, is the sum of many individual acoustic pulses, each a remnant of a shock wave, that have propagated to the point of observation from the generating channel segments. The first sounds arrive from the nearest part of the lightning channel and the last sounds from the most distant parts.
The higher the source of the sound, the farther it can be heard. Frequently, the thunder that is heard originates in the cloud and not in the visible channel. On some occasions, the observer may hear no thunder at all; this is more frequent at night when lightning can be seen over long distances and thunder can be heard only over a limited range (∼10 km or 6 mi). See also Lightning; Thunderstorm.
noun
verb
When a stroke of lightning passes through the atmosphere, the air becomes intensely hot, perhaps to 30 000 °C. The violent expansion thus caused makes a shock-wave heard as thunder.
The noise created when air rushes back into a region from which it has been expelled by the passage of lightning.
It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder.
— Frederick Douglas (1817-1895)
Thunder is the sound made by lightning. Depending on the nature of the lightning and
distance of the hearer, it can range from a sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble. It is produced by a sonic shock wave caused by the rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within a bolt of lightning.
The cause of thunder has been the subject of centuries of speculation and scientific inquiry.
The first recorded theory is attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle in the
third century BC, and an early speculation was that it was caused by the collision of
clouds. Subsequently, numerous other theories have been proposed. By the mid-19th century, the accepted theory was that lightning
produced a vacuum along its path, and that thunder was caused by the subsequent motion of air
rushing to fill the vacuum. Later in the 19th century it was believed that thunder was
caused by an explosion of steam when water along the lightning channel was heated. Another theory was that gaseous materials were
created by lightning and then exploded. In the 20th century a consensus evolved that
thunder must begin with a shock wave in the air due to the sudden thermal expansion of the
plasma in the lightning channel. In a fraction of a second the air is heated to a
temperature approaching 28,000 °C (50,000
More recently, this consensus has been eroded by the observation that measured overpressures in simulated lightning are greater than what could be achieved by the amount of heating found. Alternative proposals rely on electrodynamic effects of the massive current acting on the plasma in the bolt of lightning. [2]
The d in thunder is epenthetic, and is now found in Modern Dutch donder, from earlier Old English þunor, Middle Dutch donre, together with Old Norse þorr, Old Frisian þuner, Old High German donar descended from Proto-Germanic *þunraz. In Latin it's tonare "to thunder" (see also tornado). The name of the Germanic god Thor comes from the Old Norse word for thunder.
See also:
A flash of lightning, followed after some seconds by a rumble of thunder, is for many people the first illustration of the the
fact that sound (like light) does not travel instantaneously, and
that sound is by far the slower. Using this difference, one can estimate how far away the bolt of lightning is by timing the
interval between seeing the flash and hearing thunder. The speed of sound in air is
approximately
Fear of thunder is known as astraphobia.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Dansk (Danish)
n. - torden, bulder
v. intr. - tordne, buldre
v. tr. - sige noget med tordnende stemme
Nederlands (Dutch)
donder, gedonder, donderen, denderen, bulderen met iemands idee(ën) goede sier maken
Français (French)
n. - (Météo) tonnerre, fracas, grondement, tonnerre (de)
v. intr. - tonner, faire un bruit de tonnerre (sur), tempêter, passer dans un bruit de tonnerre
v. tr. - hurler, tonner, faire éclater (un tonnerre d'applaudissements)
Deutsch (German)
n. - Donner, Donnern, Donnerwetter
v. - donnern, tosen, brüllen, ein Donnerwetter loslassen
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - βροντή, μπουμπουνητό, κεραυνός
v. - βροντώ, μπουμπουνίζω, βροντοφωνάζω, μιλώ ή εκφράζομαι έντονα
Italiano (Italian)
tuonare, tuono
idioms:
Português (Portuguese)
n. - raio (m), trovão (m), trovoada (f), censuras (f pl), estrondo (m)
v. - trovejar
idioms:
Русский (Russian)
грохотать, греметь, гром
idioms:
Español (Spanish)
n. - trueno, estruendo
v. intr. - tronar, retumbar
v. tr. - proferir como un trueno, lanzar, fulminar, golpear repetidamente, expresar con aplausos
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - åska, dunder, dån
v. - åska, dundra, dåna, braka
中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
雷, 轰隆声, 雷声, 打雷, 怒喝, 轰隆地响, 轰隆地发出, 厉声发出吼出, 砰然重击
中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 雷, 轟隆聲, 雷聲
v. intr. - 打雷, 怒喝, 轟隆地響
v. tr. - 轟隆地發出, 厲聲發出吼出, 砰然重擊
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 우뢰, 고함, 비난
v. intr. - 천둥 치다, 큰 소리를 내다, 탄핵하다
v. tr. - 고함지르다, 발사하다, 큰 소리로 말하다
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 雷, 雷のような音, とどろき
v. - 雷が鳴る, とどろく, 大声で言う, 激しく非難する
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) رعد (فعل) ترعد السماء
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - רעם, רעש, זעם
v. intr. - רעם, הרעים בקולו
v. tr. - רעם, איים, ביקר בחריפות
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Some good "thunder" pages on the web:
 American Sign Language commtechlab.msu.edu |
 Native American Mythology www.pantheon.org |
| Thunder I7525 | Thunder K8we |
| Thunder I7520r | thunder cats |
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