cumulonimbus

noun cu·mu·lo·nim·bus \ ˈkyü-myə-(ˌ)lō-ˈnim-bəs \

|Updated on: 6 Jul 2018

Definition of cumulonimbus

: cumulus cloud having a low base and often spread out in the shape of an anvil extending to great heights — see cloud illustration

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Recent Examples of cumulonimbus from the Web

Towering cumulonimbus clouds made for magical sunsets, and the warm, yellow rays of sunshine generated rainbows that were seen across Northern Virginia and Montgomery County.

— angela fritz, Washington Post, "Beautiful photos of our semi-stormy weekend," 25 June 2018
In mid-afternoon, the giant bubblers, the cumulonimbus clouds, can then build vertically thousands of feet into the sky.

— tom stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle, "Mountain thunder, lightning mean summer has arrived," 21 May 2018
Thanks to Boise viewer Robin Hadder for sending in this picture of the towering cumulonimbus cloud that formed this evening in the Boise area.

— katy moeller, idahostatesman, "Storm inundated Boise neighborhood Wednesday night. Is another soggy weekend ahead? | Idaho Statesman," 17 May 2018
In it, falling rain evaporates before reaching the ground because of high temperatures, but lightning from the high cumulonimbus clouds reaches the ground.

— Washington Post, "Portugal, a country helplessly prone to forest fires," 19 June 2017
At the logjammed bars, attendees reached again and again for palomas over bountiful crudité platters offering strips of jicama, spears of asparagus and cumulonimbus piles of purple cauliflower.

— isaac oliver, New York Times, "Going (Nearly) Bare for a Good Cause," 5 Apr. 2017
Your fingers slip into routines, digital rituals encoded by childhood habits, neural pathways waking like heat lightning blinking through cumulonimbus clouds.

— matt peckham, Time, "Metroid: Samus Returns Is Exactly the Metroid the 3DS Needs," 27 June 2017
If a clear sky in a landscape looked boring, a photographer’s assistant — often a woman (thought to possess a surer hand) — could create a separate negative with billowing cumulonimbuses.

— john kelly, Washington Post, "A lecture on 19th-century photography techniques provides more than a snapshot," 8 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cumulonimbus.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.