Library / English Dictionary

CLOUD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A group of many things in the air or on the ground

Example:

it discharged a cloud of spores

Synonyms:

cloud; swarm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("cloud" is a kind of...):

group; grouping (any number of entities (members) considered as a unit)

Meronyms (members of "cloud"):

insect (small air-breathing arthropod)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cloud"):

infestation; plague (a swarm of insects that attack plants)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A visible mass of water or ice particles suspended at a considerable altitude

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("cloud" is a kind of...):

atmospheric phenomenon (a physical phenomenon associated with the atmosphere)

Meronyms (substance of "cloud"):

water vapor; water vapour (water in a vaporous form diffused in the atmosphere but below boiling temperature)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cloud"):

stratus; stratus cloud (a large dark low cloud)

storm cloud (a heavy dark cloud presaging rain or a storm)

nimbus; nimbus cloud; rain cloud (a dark grey cloud bearing rain)

nebule (a small cloud)

mother-of-pearl cloud; nacreous cloud (a luminous iridescent cloud at a high altitude that may be seen when the sun is a few degrees below the horizon)

cumulus; cumulus cloud (a globular cloud)

cumulonimbus; cumulonimbus cloud; thundercloud (a dark cloud of great vertical extent charged with electricity; associated with thunderstorms)

condensation trail; contrail (an artificial cloud created by an aircraft; caused either by condensation due to the reduction in air pressure above the wing surface or by water vapor in the engine exhaust)

cloud bank (a layer of clouds seen from a distance)

cirrus; cirrus cloud (a wispy white cloud (usually of fine ice crystals) at a high altitude (4 to 8 miles))

cirrostratus; cirrostratus cloud (a thin uniform layer of hazy cloud at high altitude)

cirrocumulus; cirrocumulus cloud (a cloud at a high altitude consisting of a series of regularly arranged small clouds resembling ripples)

Holonyms ("cloud" is a part of...):

sky (the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth)

Derivation:

cloud (billow up in the form of a cloud)

cloud (make overcast or cloudy)

cloudy (full of or covered with clouds)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any collection of particles (e.g., smoke or dust) or gases that is visible

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("cloud" is a kind of...):

physical phenomenon (a natural phenomenon involving the physical properties of matter and energy)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cloud"):

mushroom; mushroom-shaped cloud; mushroom cloud (a large cloud of rubble and dust shaped like a mushroom and rising into the sky after an explosion (especially of a nuclear bomb))

dust cloud (a cloud of dust suspended in the air)

cosmic dust (clouds of particles or gases occurring throughout interstellar space)

aerosol (a cloud of solid or liquid particles in a gas)

nebula (an immense cloud of gas (mainly hydrogen) and dust in interstellar space)

coma ((astronomy) the luminous cloud of particles surrounding the frozen nucleus of a comet; forms as the comet approaches the sun and is warmed)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Out of touch with reality

Example:

his head was in the clouds

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("cloud" is a kind of...):

irreality; unreality (the state of being insubstantial or imaginary; not existing objectively or in fact)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Suspicion affecting your reputation

Example:

after that mistake he was under a cloud

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("cloud" is a kind of...):

suspicion (the state of being suspected)

Derivation:

cloud (place under suspicion or cast doubt upon)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A cause of worry or gloom or trouble

Example:

the only cloud on the horizon was the possibility of dissent by the French

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("cloud" is a kind of...):

gloom; gloominess; glumness (an atmosphere of depression and melancholy)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make milky or dull

Example:

The chemical clouded the liquid to which it was added

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "cloud" is one way to...):

dull (make less lively or vigorous)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Colour with streaks or blotches of different shades

Synonyms:

cloud; dapple; mottle

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "cloud" is one way to...):

spot (mark with a spot or spots so as to allow easy recognition)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cloud"):

harlequin (variegate with spots or marks)

speckle; stipple (produce a mottled effect)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make less clear

Example:

the stroke clouded memories of her youth

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "cloud" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Place under suspicion or cast doubt upon

Example:

sully someone's reputation

Synonyms:

cloud; corrupt; defile; sully; taint

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "cloud" is one way to...):

deflower; impair; mar; spoil; vitiate (make imperfect)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

cloud (suspicion affecting your reputation)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make gloomy or depressed

Example:

Their faces were clouded with sadness

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "cloud" is one way to...):

affect; impress; move; strike (have an emotional or cognitive impact upon)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sense 6

Meaning:

Billow up in the form of a cloud

Example:

The smoke clouded above the houses

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "cloud" is one way to...):

billow; wallow (rise up as if in waves)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

cloud (a visible mass of water or ice particles suspended at a considerable altitude)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Make less visible or unclear

Example:

the big elm tree obscures our view of the valley

Synonyms:

becloud; befog; cloud; fog; haze over; mist; obnubilate; obscure

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "cloud" is one way to...):

conceal; hide (prevent from being seen or discovered)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cloud"):

overshadow (cast a shadow upon)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 8

Meaning:

Make overcast or cloudy

Example:

Fall weather often overcasts our beaches

Synonyms:

cloud; overcast

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Hypernyms (to "cloud" is one way to...):

darken (make dark or darker)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cloud"):

fog up (get foggy)

haze (become hazy, dull, or cloudy)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Also:

cloud over; cloud up (become covered with clouds)

Derivation:

cloud (a visible mass of water or ice particles suspended at a considerable altitude)

clouding (the process whereby water particles become visible in the sky)

Credits

 Context examples: 

PAHs are abundant in the dense molecular clouds where stars coalesce.

(Citizen Scientists Discover Yellow "Space Balls", NASA)

Clouds and sea ice contribute to the peak in the Southern Hemisphere.

(Earthshine, NASA)

For a moment or two I could see nothing, as the shadow of a cloud obscured St. Mary's Church and all around it.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The door opened, and, gazing out of his cloud of steam, he saw a man and a woman pausing on the threshold.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

See those black clouds to windward.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Suddenly, with a loud huzza, a little cloud of pirates leaped from the woods on the north side and ran straight on the stockade.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The clouds will pass. G.’ Nothing for a week after that.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Clouds of insects danced and buzzed in the golden autumn light, and the air was full of the piping of the song-birds.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The sun might shine or the clouds might lower, but nothing could appear to me as it had done the day before.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

They flashed past us in a rolling cloud of dust, and I had just a glimpse of the pale, handsome face of the master, and of the dark, shrivelled features of the man.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)