lightning
A very strong and bright line of electricity in the sky during a storm, which you see as a quick flash of light and often hear as thunder afterwards.
A sudden, powerful discharge of electricity in the atmosphere, usually between clouds or between a cloud and the ground, producing a very brief, bright flash of light and often accompanied by thunder.
Extremely fast or very sudden.
Very fast or happening very suddenly, in a way that is compared to the speed of natural lightning.
- Base: lightning
- Plural: lightning, lightnings
a bolt of lightning
1single lightning strike
One long, bright line of lightning in the sky.
- A bolt of lightning suddenly split the dark clouds.
- We saw a bolt of lightning hit the hill in the distance.
a flash of lightning
1brief lightning light
A very short bright light from lightning in the sky.
- A flash of lightning lit up the whole room.
- We could see the road only when a flash of lightning came.
ball lightning
1rare glowing ball lightning
A very rare kind of lightning that looks like a glowing ball in the air.
- Some people claim to have seen ball lightning move slowly across the room.
- Ball lightning is still not fully understood by scientists.
be struck by lightning
1be hit by lightning
To be hit on your body or on something by lightning from the sky.
- He was struck by lightning while playing golf in a storm.
- The old tower was struck by lightning twice last year.
dry lightning
1lightning with no rain nearby
Lightning that happens when there is little or no rain where it hits the ground.
- Wildfires are often started by dry lightning.
- Forecasters warned that dry lightning could ignite new fires.
heat lightning
1distant lightning without thunder
Lightning that you can see far away as light in the sky, but you cannot hear the thunder.
- We watched heat lightning flicker on the horizon.
- On hot summer nights, you can sometimes see heat lightning in the distance.
lightning bolt
1single streak of lightning
One long, bright line of lightning, often shown in pictures as a jagged line.
- A lightning bolt hit the tree next to the road.
- The superhero has a yellow lightning bolt on his chest.
lightning decision
1very fast decision
A decision made very quickly, without delay.
- She made a lightning decision to accept the offer.
- In an emergency, you sometimes have to take a lightning decision.
lightning fast
1extremely fast
Very, very fast.
- Customer support was lightning fast and solved my problem in minutes.
- Her typing is lightning fast compared to mine.
- The website loads lightning fast, even on my phone.
lightning never strikes twice (in the same place)
1rare events seldom repeat
People say this when they think a very unusual good or bad thing will not happen to the same person or in the same way again.
- I doubt you’ll win the lottery again; lightning never strikes twice.
- Getting two dream jobs in a row felt like proof that lightning really can strike twice.
lightning quick
1extremely quick
Very, very quick.
- With lightning quick movements, the magician hid the card.
- You need to be lightning quick to win at this game.
lightning reflexes
1extremely fast reactions
Very fast natural body reactions to something sudden.
- The goalkeeper’s lightning reflexes saved the team.
- You need lightning reflexes to be a top gamer.
lightning response
1extremely fast answer or reaction
A very fast reply or reaction.
- Thanks for your lightning response to my request.
- The system sends a lightning response to any error.
lightning round
1fast question-and-answer part
A short part of a game or quiz where people must answer very quickly.
- The show ended with a lightning round of yes-or-no questions.
- In the lightning round, teams have only 60 seconds to answer as many questions as possible.
lightning speed
1extremely high speed
Very great speed; moving or happening very fast.
- The message spread across social media at lightning speed.
- He finished the project with lightning speed.
lightning storm
1storm with much lightning
A storm with a lot of lightning in the sky.
- We stayed inside during the lightning storm.
- The power went out because of last night’s lightning storm.
lightning strike
1event of lightning hitting
One event when lightning hits the ground, a tree, a building, etc.
- The satellite recorded over a hundred lightning strikes in one hour.
- The fire was started by a lightning strike on the hillside.
like lightning
1very quickly
Very fast; in a very short time.
- He ran like lightning to catch the bus.
- The news spread through the office like lightning.
lightning rod
1metal rod for lightning protection
A metal bar on top of a building that leads lightning safely into the ground.
- The church tower is fitted with a lightning rod to protect it during storms.
- The old church has a lightning rod on its steeple.
- Engineers recommended adding a lightning rod to the new high-rise.
- Lightning rods help protect tall buildings during storms.
- The old farmhouse burned down because it didn’t have a lightning rod.
sheet lightning
1lightning lighting sky without bolts visible
Lightning that lights up clouds or sky but you cannot see the bolt hit the ground.
- We saw sheet lightning in the distance.
- Sheet lightning lit up the horizon.
sheet lightning
2lightning lighting up the sky
Lightning that makes the whole sky light up, but you do not see one clear line of lightning.
- From the city we could see only sheet lightning behind the clouds.
- Sheet lightning flickered across the horizon all evening.