Dictionary

cloudburst en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈklaʊdˌbɜːst/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈklaʊdˌbɝst/ (General-American)

Etymology

From cloud + burst.

Meanings

1. A sudden heavy rainstorm.
   • A cloudburst in the China Creek district followed by continued heavy rains was responsible for the increased water. 1908, Stewart Edward White, chapter 38, in The Riverman:
   • [H]e walked across the lawn, wet from a fleeting late-afternoon cloudburst, the first rain in a month. 2007 Feb. 25, Norman Howard, "Devotion, chapter 1" (book excerpt), New York Times (retrieved 20 May 2014)
   • [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. 1899, Edith Wharton, “A Cup of Cold Water”, in The Greater Inclination:
   • 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. 1936 August 17, “Miscellany”, in Time, retrieved 20 May 2014:
2. (figuratively) A sudden downfall or shortcoming.
   • "[...] [T]his great storm of a beating would rain down on our backs?" "Yours, at least, Sancho," replied Don Quixote, "must be accustomed to such cloudbursts; but mine, brought up on cambric and fine Dutch linen, of course will feel more deeply the pain of this misfortune. Part 1 published in 1605, Part 2 in 1615, translated in 2003, Miguel de Cervantes and translated by Edith Grossman, Don Quixote, page 106:

Forms

Synonyms

cloudbust

Translations (52)

hy տարափ (sudden heavy rainstorm) · hu felhőszakadás (sudden heavy rainstorm) · uk зли́ва (sudden heavy rainstorm) · sv störtregn (sudden heavy rainstorm) · es gota fría (sudden heavy rainstorm) · pt chuveiro (sudden heavy rainstorm) · nn skybrott (sudden heavy rainstorm) · yi וואָלקנבראָך (sudden heavy rainstorm) · nn skybrot (sudden heavy rainstorm) · ka თავსხმა (sudden heavy rainstorm) · fa رگبار پراکنده (sudden heavy rainstorm) · cy cwmwl yn torri (sudden heavy rainstorm) · yi וואָלקנבראָךן (sudden heavy rainstorm) · pdt Wolkjenbruch (sudden heavy rainstorm) · be лі́вень (sudden heavy rainstorm) · cy torgwmwl (sudden heavy rainstorm) · sv hällregn (sudden heavy rainstorm) · sv ösregn (sudden heavy rainstorm) · nl wolkbreuk (sudden heavy rainstorm) · pl oberwanie chmury (sudden heavy rainstorm) · bg порой (sudden heavy rainstorm) · it scroscio (sudden heavy rainstorm) · cs liják (sudden heavy rainstorm) · ro rupere de nori (sudden heavy rainstorm) · cs průtrž mračen (sudden heavy rainstorm) · ml മേഘസ്ഫോടനം (sudden heavy rainstorm) · mk по́ројник (sudden heavy rainstorm) · no styrtregn (sudden heavy rainstorm) · nb skybrudd (sudden heavy rainstorm) · ja 豪雨 (sudden heavy rainstorm) · da skybrud (sudden heavy rainstorm) · ms hujan curah (sudden heavy rainstorm) · sv störtskur (sudden heavy rainstorm) · ca xàfec (sudden heavy rainstorm) · sv skyfall (sudden heavy rainstorm) · es aguacero (sudden heavy rainstorm) · it acquazzone (sudden heavy rainstorm) · srn sibibusi (sudden heavy rainstorm) · mk по́рој (sudden heavy rainstorm) · cy cwmwl wedi torri (sudden heavy rainstorm) · sv spöregn (sudden heavy rainstorm) · fi rankkasade (sudden heavy rainstorm) · ga maidhm bháistí (sudden heavy rainstorm) · mr ढगफुटी (sudden heavy rainstorm) · fr averse (sudden heavy rainstorm) · it nubifragio (sudden heavy rainstorm) · de Wolkenbruch (sudden heavy rainstorm) · fa شغال باران (sudden heavy rainstorm) · ru ли́вень (sudden heavy rainstorm) · pt aguaceiro (sudden heavy rainstorm) · nb skybrott (sudden heavy rainstorm) · it rovescio (sudden heavy rainstorm)