▪ I. booming, vbl. n.
(ˈbuːmɪŋ)
[f. boom v.1, v.2, v.3.]
1. The emitting of a deep, resonant sound.
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. III. 214 Of all sounds there is none so dismally hollow as the booming of a bittern. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 535 The distant booming of cannon was heard..from the batteries of the Tower. 1878 Black Green Past. xxviii. 226 The booming of the fog-horn at night is one of the most horrid sounds in the world. |
2. ‘The accumulation and sudden discharge of a quantity of water (in placer mining, where water is scarce).’ Raymond Mining Gloss. 1881.
| 1880 Toronto Globe, Miners in the Far West have a practice of conducting explorations by a means which they call ‘booming’. It consists in damming up some gorge on a mountain side and allowing the water from melting snow to accumulate till an immense reservoir has been formed. When the pond is full an outlet is made, and the water rushes down with irresistible force, overwhelming everything in its path..Rich veins and deposits of ore are often uncovered by this process. |
3. See boom n.3, boom v.3
| 1881 Chicago Times 1 June, The Texas market is also advised as active, and in some cases excited, but..this ‘booming’ tendency is at least a little premature. |
4. See boom v.2 2 b.
| 1900 Daily News 6 July 7/4 Owing to the booming of the course, the expenses of the regatta are much heavier. |
▪ II. ˈbooming, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
1. Making a deep hollow reverberating sound.
| 1626 B. Jonson Masques Wks. 1692. 647 Bombing sighs. 1762–9 Falconer Shipwr. ii. 552 O'er The sea-beat ship the booming waters roar. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxxii. (1856) 279 One wild, booming, agonized note, made up of a thousand discords. |
2. Of business, etc.: Flourishing, advancing on a tide of prosperity. (See boom v.3) orig. U.S.
| 1879 Lumberman's Gaz. 29 Oct., Salt is ‘booming’, as it has been all the season. Ibid. 12 Nov., New life and energy has been infused into all channels of business—things are booming. 1883 Leis. Ho. 283/1 Pueblo is the very centre of South Colorado traffic, and certainly booming. 1896 J. A. Hobson Probl. of Unempl. 50 Where improvements of machinery occur during periods of ‘booming’ trade they do not occasion any large quantity of unemployment or distress. 1964 Sun-Herald (Sydney) 21 June 136/4 The railways have been doing booming business this year. 1968 Times 9 Dec. 7/2 The booming new science of infra-red astronomy. |