▪ I. storm, n.
(stɔːm)
Also (1 stearm north.), 3–7 storme (3 steorm, storem, 5 stourme, starme).
[Com. Teut. (not recorded in Gothic): OE. storm masc. corresp. to Fris., OS. (MLG., Du.) storm, OHG. (MHG., mod.G.) sturm, ON. storm-r (Sw., Da. storm):—OTeut. *sturmo-z (whence Rom. *stormo: see stour n.1), f. root *stur- (? *stwer-) of stir v.]
I. 1. a. A violent disturbance of the atmosphere, manifested by high winds, often accompanied by heavy falls of rain, hail, or snow, by thunder and lightning, and at sea by turbulence of the waves. Hence sometimes applied to a heavy fall of rain, hail, or snow, or to a violent outbreak of thunder and lightning, unaccompanied by strong wind.
More explicitly storm of hail, † lightning, rain, † thunder; also with the n. prefixed, as hailstorm, rain-storm, snow-storm, thunder-storm.
| c 825 Vesp. Ps. xlix. 3 Fyr in ᵹesihðe his beorneð & in ymbhwyrfte his storm strong. Ibid. liv. 9 Ic bad hine se mec halne dyde from lytelmodum & storme. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xvi. 3 To dæᵹ [bið] stearm, faᵹas forðon unrotlic heofon. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 274 Seo lyft ðe we ymbe sprecað astihð up fornean oð þone monan & abyrð ealle wolcna stormas. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1070 Þa com an mycel storm & to dræfede ealle þa scipe þær þa gersumes wæron inne. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 143 Ech eorþe scal hwakien on his ecsene alse deoð þe see in storme. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 161 Storemes falleð in þe sæ, and to-worpeð hit. a 1225 Juliana 76 As ha weren in wettre com a steorm [v.r. strom] & draf ham to londe. a 1225 [see still B 2]. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1122 Ther ran a rumbel and a swough As though a storm sholde bresten euery bough. c 1400 Destr. Troy 7631 The stourme wex still. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 477/2 Storm, wedyr, nimbus, procella, altanus. Storm, yn the see, turbo. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 32 His steid aganis the storme staluartlie straid. 1594 Kyd Cornelia i. 82 The windie storme Doth topside-turuey tosse thee as thou flotest. Ibid. ii. 93 Enemies..Beat backe like flyes before a storme of hayle. 1597 Donne Poems, Storm 32 And what at first was call'd a gust, the same Hath now a stormes, anon a tempests name. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. ii. 19 Heres..another Storme brewing, I heare it sing ith' winde. 1621 in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1906) 280 A storme of thunder and rayne came. 1627 Capt. Smith Sea Gram. x. 47 A Storm is knowne..not to bee much lesse than a tempest, that will blow downe houses, and trees vp by the roots. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 126 That night we..were entertained by..a sudden storm of rain, thunder, and lightning. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 18 The wind setting in at South-west, blew a storm. 1735 Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia, Voy. i. 2 We had our Rigging somewhat damag'd by a Storm of Lightning. 1788 Wesley Jrnl. 6 Oct., When I came into the town, it blew a storm... But it fell as suddenly as it rose. Ibid. 25 Nov., Though it blew a storm, and was piercing cold, we were sufficiently crowded at Dover. 1805 Scott Let. 18 Aug. in Lockhart (1837) II. ii. 60 The most dreadful storm of thunder and lightning I ever witnessed. 1847 Tennyson Princess iv. 256 Like the mystic fire on a mast-head, Prophet of storm. 1861 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 156 The storm was most magnificent at Dover. 1895 Law Times Rep. LXXIII. 156/2 Two vessels..drifted through the violence of a storm on to the toe of a breakwater. |
| in figurative context. c 897 ælfred Gregory's Past. C. ix. 58 Hwæt is ðonne ðæt rice & se ealdordom buton ðæs modes storm, se symle bið cnyssende ðæt scip ðære heortan? 1599 Shakes. Much Ado v. iv. 42 Why what's the matter? That you haue such a Februarie face, So full of frost, of storme, and clowdinesse. 1740 C. Wesley Hymn, Jesu, lover of my soul i, Hide me, o my Saviour, hide, Till the storm of life is past. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxxiii. 1 O thou that after toil and storm Mayst seem to have reach'd a purer air. |
b. Used
spec. as the distinctive appellation of a particular degree of violence in wind. In
mod. Meteorology: An atmospheric disturbance which in the Beaufort scale is classed as intermediate between a whole gale and a hurricane, having a wind-force estimated at 10–11 and a limit of velocity at from 56–75 miles per hour.
| 1801 Capper Observ. Winds & Monsoons Pref. p. xxiii, The tempest..is..the same as a hurricane, or whirlwind: I shall therefore use these words synonimously, and place them in the first order, or degree of violent winds. The storm, or what the English seamen call a hard gale, is likewise, I believe, nearly the same; I shall, therefore, make use of the former for the land, and the latter for the sea term, and reckon these in the second class. 1858 Fitzroy Meteorol. Papers iii. 94/1 [Beaufort Scale.] 11 Storm. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v. Storms, That is a storm which reduces a ship to her storm stay-sails, or to her bare poles. |
c. spec. A snowstorm. Also, a quantity of fallen snow.
Sc.| 1681 Fountainhall Chronol. Notes (1822) 8 A great storm of snow had fallen. c 1730 Burt Lett. N. Scot. (1754) II. xviii. 67 There fell a very great Storm (as they call it) for by the Word Storm they only mean Snow. 1787 [J. Beattie] Scoticisms 119 They turned him out,..though there was a storm of snow lying on the ground. |
d. A period of hard weather with frost and snow.
Sc. and
N. Amer..
| 1880 J. Colquhoun Moor & Loch I. 239 Even the sea-worm having failed at the end of that long continued storm. 1887 I. R. Ranche Life Montana 24 This ‘storm’, as they call the spell of cold weather, lasted about 10 days. |
e. magnetic storm: a magnetic disturbance observed simultaneously over a considerable portion of the globe.
| 1860 Sabine in Proc. Roy. Soc. X. 634 The casual magnetic disturbances, or magnetic storms. 1871 Nature 5 Oct. 441/1 Observations upon magnetic storms in higher latitudes. |
f. In
pl. ellipt. for storm windows.
N. Amer.| 1952 Home Building in Canada Oct.–Nov. 22/2 If you are wondering which windows and when to protect with storms, the answer is simple—all of them, from October to April. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 45 (Advt.), Complete with drapes, aluminum, storms and screens. 1973 N.Y. Law Jrnl. 1 Aug. 3/2 Alwin J. Dovale, installer of storms and screens. 1977 Chicago Tribune 2 Oct. ii. 7/1 Maybe next year I can afford real storms with the money I'll save on utility bills. |
g. Proverbial phrases.
a storm in a teacup (and earlier phrases: see
quots.): a great commotion in a small community or about a trifling matter. [Prob. after L.
fluctus excitare in simpulo (Cic.).]
any port in a storm: see
port n.1 1 c.
| 1590 Greene Neuer too late ii. (1600) L 3 b, No storme so sharpe to rent the little Reede. 1603 Drayton Bar. Wars iii. lv, Let's feare no Storme, before we feele a Showre. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xiv. 415 At last he is as welcome as a storm. 1678 Dk. Ormond Let. Earl Arlington 28 Dec., in Hist. MSS. Comm., Ormonde MSS. IV. 292 Our skirmish seems to be come to a period, and compared with the great things now on foot, is but a storm in a cream bowl. 1770 Gentl. Mag. XL. 560 He [has]..Been in a storm; this is a sea-phrase for being less than dead-drunk. 1830 Ibid. C. i. 49/2 Each campaign, compared with those of Europe, has been only, in Lord Thurlow's phrase, a storm in a wash-hand basin. 1872– [see tea-cup c]. 1878 [see slop-basin]. |
2. transf. A heavy discharge or downfall (of missiles, blows).
| Beowulf 3117 Þonne stræla storm strengum ᵹebæded scoc ofer scildweall. 1600 Fairfax Tasso xi. xxxiv, Adrastus first..through the falling storme did vpward clime Of stones, dartes, arrowes, fire, pitch and lime. 1615 Kyd Span. Trag. i. ii. 53 Thicke stormes of bullets ran like winters haile. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 172 The Sulphurous Hail Shot after us in storm. Ibid. vi. 546 This day will pour down..no drizling show'r, But ratling storm of Arrows barbd with fire. 1777 Potter æschylus, Persians 486 Whilst broken rocks..And storms of arrows crush'd them. 1817 Scott Harold vi. xv, Then rose His mace, and with a storm of blows The mortal and the Demon close. 1849 W. S. Mayo Kaloolah ii. (1850) 24 She [the frigate] sent forth a storm of shot. |
| fig. 1842 Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 7 Battering the gates of heaven with storms of prayer. |
3. fig. and in figurative context.
a. A violent disturbance of affairs whether civil, political, social or domestic; commotion, sedition, tumult. More definitely
storm of rebellion,
state,
strife,
war, etc. Freq. in
phr. to weather the storm.
| a 1000 Andreas 1236 (Gr.) Storm upp aras æfter ceaster⁓hofum, cirm unlytel hæðnes heriᵹes. c 1315 Shoreham Poems vii. 716 For þou [sc. the serpent] areredst þerne storm And alle þys hete, Acorsed be þou bestes by-syde. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 940 Ryȝt so holy chyrche after þat starme Shalle haue þe maystre atte lest. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 1 Subgette and thral vnto the stormes of fortune. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 349, I will stirre vp in England some black Storme, Shall blowe ten thousand soules to Heauen, or Hell. 1614 Bacon Charge touching Duels 9 It may cause suddaine stormes in Court, to the disturbance of his Maiestie. 1671 [see weather v. 4 b]. 1713 Pope Prol. to Addison's Cato 21 A brave man struggling in the storms of fate. 1741 Kames Decis. Crt. Sess. 1730–52 (1799) 33 Newlands dreading the storm, had retired out of the country. 1802 Canning Song, Here's to the pilot that weather'd the storm! [i.e. Pitt.] 1849, 1853 [see weather v. 4 b]. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 207 A violent storm broke forth. Daly was ordered to attend at the bar. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. II. ix. 361 A monk of the house, who..contrived to weather all storms, and died in possession of his Abbey. 1924 Nation & Athenæum 26 Jan. 603/1 His plight was serious; but he weathered the storm. 1934 F. W. Crofts 12.30 from Croydon viii. 95 He had come to an arrangement with his uncle whereby he hoped to weather the storm. |
b. A tumultuous rush (of sound, tears, etc.); a vehement utterance (of words); a violent outburst (of censure, ridicule, etc.); a passionate manifestation of feeling.
| 1602 tr. Guarini's Pastor Fido iv. viii. M 2 b, That..afterward dost mooue A thousand stormes of sighes, of teares, of plaintes. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. ¶1, For, was there euer any thing proiected, that sauoured any way of newnesse..but the same endured many a storme of gaine-saying, or opposition? 1615 Chapman Odyss. ix. 435 With stormes of whistlings [Gr. πολλῇ ῥοίζω] then, his flocks he draue Vp to the mountaines. 1693 Dryden Persius i. 36 The Prose is Fustian, and the Numbers lame. All Noise, and empty Pomp, a storm of Words. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 407 ¶4 How much more they would have been alarmed, had they heard him actually throwing out such a Storm of Eloquence. 1781 Cowper Table-T. 491 The strings are swept with such a pow'r, so loud, The storm of music shakes th' astonish'd crowd. 1832 Warren Diary Physic. II. iii. 124 He concluded amid a storm of applause. 1847 Tennyson Princess v. 477 At which the storm Of galloping hoofs bare on the ridge of spears And riders front to front. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 484 He..faced the storm of invective which burst upon him from bar, bench, and witness box, with the insolence of despair. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xxviii, Octavia disburdened the long-pent agony of repression in..a storm of weeping. |
c. Commotion or unrest (of mind or soul); a tumultuous assemblage (of thoughts, feelings).
| 1569 T. Underdown Heliodorus vii. 89 A whole storme of thoughtes in a manner ouerwhelmed her. 1728–46 Thomson Spring 299 These, and a thousand mixed emotions more,..vex the mind With endless storm. 1729 G. Adams tr. Sophocl., Antig. iii. v. II. 51 Still the same Violence of the Storms of her Soul torments her. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 322 Sir Aylmer reddening from the storm within, Then broke all bonds of courtesy, and crying ‘Boy’ [etc.]. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman iii. xii. 170 She..covered up her head in the clothes as before, but with a storm of other feelings. |
d. storm and stress [G.
Sturm und Drang]: used to designate the movement in German literature about 1770–82, due to a school of young writers characterized by extravagance in the representation of violent passion, and by energetic repudiation of the ‘rules’ of the French critics. See also
Sturm und Drang.
Sturm und Drang, the title of a play by F. M. Klinger (1776), was seized upon by the historians of literature as aptly expressing the spirit of the school to which the author belonged.
| 1855 G. H. Lewes Goethe I. iii. i. 140 [1771] The period known as the Storm and Stress period was then about to astonish Germany, and to startle all conventions, by works such as Gerstenberg's Ugolino, Goethe's Götz von Berlichingen, Klinger's Sturm und Drang (from whence the name), and Schiller's Robbers. 1900 F. H. Stoddard Evol. Eng. Novel iv. 144 That group of men whom collectively we take to illustrate the early Storm and Stress. |
| transf. 1839 Longfellow Hyperion ii. viii, Did you never have the misfortune..to know one of the benefactors of the human race, in the very ‘storm and pressure period’ of his indiscreet enthusiasm? 1879 Farrar St. Paul II. 411 Written during the years a.d. 57 and 58, a period pre-eminently of storm and stress in the Apostle's life. 1900 G. C. Brodrick Memories 227, I never knew John Bright personally until his time of storm and stress was over. |
e. up a storm adv. phr., vehemently, violently, with enthusiasm or energy.
U.S. colloq.| 1953 J. Street Civil War iv. 55 The editors just r'ared back in the omnipotence of Jove and pontificated up a storm. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xviii. 149 After Marietta taught me, I knitted up a storm and got real fancy. I made cable-knit sweaters for Bobby Tucker and his little boy. 1965 Charlottesville (Va.) Daily Progress 29 Apr. 6/1 When I ask him to go to the store for me he starts to wheeze up a storm and tells me he is a sick man. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald Mag. 30 Apr. 19/3 Right now she's cooking up a storm in preparation for the rash of friends who will be stopping by on their way to Expo. 1972 TV Guide (U.S.) 15 Jan. a54/1 Aretha Franklin sings up a storm and impersonates top female vocalists. 1974 K. Millett Flying (1975) v. 518, I will console myself with material goods. I will shop up a storm. 1983 Oxford Times 29 Apr. 3/7 Youngsters from the First Yarnton Brownies have been knitting up a storm to make a blanket for Mother Theresa in India. |
4. Path. a. A paroxysm, violent access (of pain or disease). Now chiefly with qualifying word, as
asthmatic storm,
rheumatic storm.
| 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 58 Another dyette there is, the whiche she ought to obserue in y⊇ tyme of labour: when the stormes and thronges begyn to come on. 1612 Shelton Quixote i. iii. iii. (1620) 134 He swet, and swet againe, with..excessiue swoonings. This storme and mishap endured about some two houres. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 39 All these together as phenomena of the same rheumatic storm. 1898 Ibid. V. 288 The asthmatic storm flits about the lung, now here, now there. 1899 Ibid. VII. 819 We should expect the final storm of grave symptoms [in an attack of convulsions] to be preceded by indications of gradual failure. |
b. brain storm,
nerve storm: see
quots.| 1890 Billings Med. Dict., Nerve-storms, sudden attacks or paroxysms of neuroses or functional nervous disease. 1894 G. M. Gould Illustr. Dict. Med., Brain-storm, a succession of sudden and severe phenomena, due to some cerebral disturbance. |
II. [
f. storm v.]
5. Mil. a. A violent assault on a fortified place.
| 1645 Cromwell in Carlyle Lett. & Sp. (1845) I. 225 The day and hour of our storm was appointed. Ibid. 226 The General's signal unto a storm, was to be, The..discharging four pieces of cannon. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. ii. iii. (1848) 107 A Fortress, whose Defendants are not Treacherous, can scarce be taken otherwise than either by Famine, or Storm. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. xi. 255 We should have carried the fort by storm. 1813 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) X. 548, I believe the Storm ought to take place by daylight. 1840 W. C. Burns in I. Burns Life ix. (1870) 204 He served at eight storms, and twelve general engagements. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1875) III. xii. 168 An attempt at a storm was beaten back by the defenders. |
b. to take by storm: to take possession of by a sudden attack; to carry by assault.
| 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. I. 72 At length they took the Town by storm. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. 149 The town was taken by storm. 1870 Rogers Hist. Glean. Ser. ii. 49 The rioters took Norwich by storm. |
| fig. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xxxiii, How I looked while these ideas were taking my spirit by storm, I cannot tell. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars i. 27 The Franciscans..were taking the world by storm. |
III. 6. attrib. and
Comb.:
a. simple
attrib., as
storm-blast,
storm-burst,
storm-drop,
storm-flake,
storm-gust,
storm-lift,
storm-month,
storm-rack,
storm-shock,
storm-song,
storm-spirit,
storm-sprite; also
storm-like adj. and
adv.| 1817 Coleridge Anc. Mar. i. 41 And now the *Storm-blast came. |
| a 1849 J. C. Mangan Poems (1859) 69 The *storm-burst is over. |
| 1836 Keble in Lyra Apost. (1849) 167 Now the big *storm-drops fall. |
| 1876 *Storm flake [see scroll-leaved adj. s.v. scroll n. 6 a]. |
| 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxvii. 198 Wild *storm-gusts, sent down against us from Mont Blanc himself. |
| 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 372 The storm began To rumble, and the *storm-lift moving slow, Over a full third of the sky to grow. |
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. Amphialus' Dream (1605) 261 Whereout with sudden fall..There came a chariot faire..Whose *stormelike course staid not till hard by me it bided. 1607 Chapman Bussy d'Ambois ii. i. 101 Storme-like he fell, and hid the feare-cold Earth. 1705 S. Centlivre Basset-Table iv, I am rough and storm-like in my temper. |
| 1894 Stonyhurst Mag. Feb. 233 And like the *storm-months smote the earth. |
| 1878 O. Wilde Ravenna 14 As from the *storm-rack comes a perfect star! 1926 J. N. Cameron in Oxford Poetry 14 The haggard storm-rack of disastrous days. |
| 1849 C. Rossetti Poems (1904) 118/1 See the ancient pine that stands the firmer For the *storm-shock that it bore. |
| 1925 Blunden English Poems 40 While on her soul the *stormsong bursts, and groanings Knell through roof and flue. |
| 1929 ― Near & Far 41 *Storm-spirit, coil your lightnings round mad towers. |
| 1817 Scott Harold iii. ix, When the *storm-sprite shrieks in air. |
b. instrumental, as
storm-armed,
storm-beat,
storm-beaten,
storm-bitten,
storm-bound,
storm-damaged,
storm-driven,
storm-encompassed,
storm-laden,
storm-rent,
storm-swept,
storm-threatened,
storm-tormented,
storm-torn,
storm-tossed,
storm-troubled,
storm-washed,
storm-worn adjs.| 1591 Sylvester Ivry 174 *Storm-arm'd Auster cruell. |
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 32 Here may thy *storme-bet vessel safely ride. 1814 Scott To Dk. Buccleuch 64 On every storm-beat cape. |
| 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 37 Lyke plodding *stormebeaten haglers. 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xxxiv. 6 To dry the raine on my storme-beaten face. a 1639 T. Carew Poems (1651) 28, I float Far from the shore, in a storm-beaten boat. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xviii. IV. 191 Some stormbeaten pinnacle of rock. |
| 1939 W. B. Yeats Last Poems 6 A small forgotten house that's set On a *storm-bitten green. |
| 1830 Carlyle in Froude Life (1882) II. 66 After so many weeks of *storm-bound inactivity. |
| 1980 New Age (U.S.) Oct. 26/1 Eight acres of *storm-damaged apricots. |
| 1841 J. G. Whittier Poet. Wks. (1898) 190/2 Loose rock and frozen slide, Hung on the mountain-side, Waiting their hour to glide Downward, *storm-driven! 1900 W. S. Churchill in Morning Post 1 Jan. 6/2 These tall figures, full of animated movement, clad in dark flapping clothes, with slouch, storm-driven hats. |
| 1817 Shelley Revolt Islam vii. xxxvii, Like the fires that flare In *storm-encompassed isles. |
| 1899 Mackail Morris II. 27 The *storm-laden air that he began to feel around him. |
| 1794 Coleridge To Yng. Lady 21 Amid the yelling of the *storm-rent skies! 1850 E. B. Browning Poet. Wks. (1904) 141/1, I lack your daring, up this storm-rent chasm To fix with violent hands a kindred god. |
| 1805 Scott Last Minstr. vi. xxi, Where restless seas Howl round the *storm-swept Orcades. |
| 1977 *Storm-threatened [see quantum 5 d]. |
| 1844 Poe in Columbian Mag. Dec. 275/2 *Storm-tormented ocean of his thoughts. |
| 1876 J. G. Whittier Poet. Wks. (1898) 247/2 The *storm-torn plumes Of old pine-forest kings. c 1958 E. M. Forster Life to Come (1975) 199 They flew round and round the basilica.., they shot through its roof into the storm-torn night. |
| 1610–11 J. Davies (Heref.) Paper's Compl. (Grosart) 78/1 Looke downe..Vpon Thy Church *storme-tossed euery houre. 1842 Carlyle Past & Pr. i. vi. 48 Through all these stormtost seas,..the Supreme Powers are driving us. |
| 1850 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights 489 No coward soul is mine, No trembler in the world's *storm-troubled sphere. |
| 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story ii, The *storm-washed shores of Margate in winter. |
| 1885 Tennyson Dead Prophet v, A *storm-worn signpost not to be read. |
c. objective, as
storm-bringer;
storm-boding,
storm-breathing,
storm-portending,
storm-presaging adjs.| 1672 Davenant Masque (1673) 365 The *storm-boading Whale. |
| 1594 Chapman Shadow of Nt. D ij, *Storme-breathing Lelaps. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Storme brynger,..nimbifer. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 35 But with a flaw suddeyn chauffing stormbringer Orion, Spurnt vs too the waters. |
| 1845 Bailey Festus (ed. 2) 198 A *storm-portending cloud. |
| 1809 Scott Poacher 143 The waning moon, with *storm-presaging gleam. |
d. Special comb.:
storm apron U.S., a waterproof sheet used to cover the front of an open carriage in wet weather;
storm-area, the area of the earth's surface over which a storm spreads itself; also
fig.;
storm-beach (see
quot.);
storm-bell, (
a) [
cf. G.
sturmglocke] an alarm bell; (
b) (see
quot. 1910);
storm-belt, a belt or zone in which storms occur periodically;
storm boat Mil., a light but powerful boat used for conveying attacking troops across rivers;
storm-breeder (see
quot.);
storm card, a transparent disc marked with lines representing the wind-directions of a cyclonic storm, to be placed over the ship's position on the chart in order to ascertain the course of the storm-centre;
storm cellar orig. and chiefly
U.S., a cellar or dugout made to be a place of refuge from a storm; also
transf. and
fig.;
storm centre, the central area of a cyclonic storm, characterized by comparative calmness;
fig. the central point around which a storm of controversy, trouble, etc. rages; the seat of disease, sedition, and the like;
storm choke, a safety valve installed in an oil-well pipe below the ocean surface, designed to stop the oil flow should it exceed a predetermined rate as a result of damage at the wellhead;
storm-circle = storm-card;
storm-clock, (
a) [G.
sturmglocke],
nonce-use an alarm bell; (
b) a meteorograph,
spec. one devised by Sir F. Ronalds (
Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1909);
storm-cloud, a heavy cloud which threatens or comes with rain; also
fig.;
storm coat orig. and chiefly
U.S., a waterproof coat or heavy overcoat for use in stormy weather;
storm collar, a coat-collar which may be turned up and fastened close round the neck;
storm-compass = storm-card (
Cent. Dict.);
storm-cone = cone n.1 9;
storm-current (see
quot.);
storm door orig. U.S., an outer or supplementary door for use in stormy weather;
storm drain, a drain built to carry away excess water in times of heavy rain;
storm-drum, a canvas cylinder hoisted in conjunction with the storm cone as a weather-signal;
= drum n.1 8 b;
storm-fire = corposant;
storm flag, (
a)
U.S., each of the flags used in the
U.S. system of storm-signalling (
Cent. Dict.); (
b) the smallest national flag used at posts and flown only in stormy weather (W. 1911);
storm-flap, a piece of material designed to protect an opening or fastening from the effects of rain, as on a tent, coat, etc.;
storm-glass, a hermetically sealed tube containing a solution which becomes flocculent on the approach of a storm;
storm-god, a deity supposed to rule the storms; so also
storm-goddess;
storm-head window, a kind of dormer window;
† storm-hole, ? an opening made in a wall for letting out water resulting from a storm;
storm-house U.S., a temporary shelter against storm for workmen (
Cent. Dict.); also, a shelter from the weather on a boat;
storm-jacket, a weather-proof jacket;
storm-jib Naut. (see
quot. 1867);
storm-kite (see
quot.);
storm lantern orig. U.S. = hurricane-lamp s.v. hurricane 3 a;
storm-light, the lurid light seen in a stormy sky; also
= corposant;
storm mizen,
-pane (see
quots.);
storm-path = storm-track;
storm-pavement (see
quot.);
† storm-pole Mil., each of a series of stakes driven into a defensive work as a protection against assault;
storm-porch, a porch for the protection of an outer door from storms;
storm power = storm-god;
storm-proof a., (
a) impervious to storm; also, protected from or affording protection from stormy weather; (
b) proof against storming or assault; also
fig.;
storm rubber N. Amer., a rubber overshoe;
storm-sail (see
quot. 1867);
storm sewer U.S. = storm drain above;
storm shutter, an outside window-shutter for use in stormy weather;
storm-signal, a signal exhibited at coastguard stations, etc., to give warning of the approach and direction of dangerous winds; also
fig.; hence
storm-signalling vbl. n., the signalling of storms; also
attrib.;
storm-spencer = storm-trysail;
storm-stayed, (
-staid), chiefly
Sc., prevented by stress of weather from making or continuing a journey;
storm-staysail, a staysail of reduced dimensions for use in a storm;
storm-stead a. Sc. = storm-stayed;
storm surge Oceanogr., an abnormal raising of the sea level in a region as a result of the wind and atmospheric pressure changes associated with a storm;
storm-system, the group of low-pressure areas (revolving round a centre of lowest pressure) constituting a cyclonic storm;
storm track, the path traversed by the centre of a cyclonic storm;
storm-trysail (see
quot. 1867);
storm-warning, warning of the approach of a storm obtained by meteorological observation;
storm-water, (
a) an abnormal amount of surface water resulting from a heavy fall of rain or snow; also
attrib.; (
b)
poet., water agitated by a storm;
storm-wave, an abnormally heavy wave due to cyclonic disturbance which rolls across the ocean and frequently causes the inundation of low-lying coast lands; also
fig.;
storm wind, the wind which accompanies a storm; also
fig.;
spec. a wind having a speed within certain limits (see
quots. and
cf. storm n. 1 b);
storm window, (
a)
= storm-head window; (
b) an outer window to protect the inner from the effects of storms (Cassell 1888); (
c)
N. Amer., a detachable window put up in winter to form an insulating double window;
† storm-winnock (
-windoik)
Sc. = prec. (
a);
storm-zone = storm-belt.
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 591/2 *Storm Aprons. These aprons are held firmly in position on the dash..forming an unbroken water-shed over front of dash. No mud, snow, or rain can settle inside of carriage. 1943 L. I. Wilder These Happy Golden Years xxix. 260 Back in his [buggy] seat, he unrolled the rubber storm apron. |
| 1853 W. R. Birt Handbk. Law of Storms 29 The above considerations lead to a most important division of the *storm area. 1898 Daily News 8 Nov. 4/7 As the day for the meeting of the Czar's Conference on Peace draws near, the storm-area seems to be steadily extending. |
| 1882 Geikie Text-bk. Geol. iii. i. iii. 277 Accumulations of gravel or ‘*storm-beaches’ are often thrown up by storms, even above the level of ordinary high-tide mark. |
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. i. iv, At two o'clock the *stormbell shall be sounded,..all Paris shall rush..and have itself enrolled. 1910 Encycl. Brit. III. 688/2 A storm-bell warns travellers in the plain of storms approaching from the mountains. |
| 1891 Century Dict., *Storm-belt. |
| 1945 Sun (Baltimore) 27 Feb. 3/1 The sergeant..took them back to the road to carry the *stormboat down to the river and launch it. 1945 Finito! Po Valley Campaign (15th Army Group) 12 Each 20-foot, powered, plywood storm boat. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Storm-breeders, heavy cumulo-stratus clouds. |
| 1844 *Storm card [see storm circle]. |
| 1920 G. Ade Hand-Made Fables 30 The Money-lender beat it to a *Storm-Cellar. 1929 J. F. Dobie Vaquero of Brush Country 151 Storm cellars in north Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas still preserve its architecture. 1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics xii. 503 One.. suggestion is that a special ‘storm cellar’ be constructed within the spacecraft, a well-shielded area into which the crew could retreat. 1971 J. H. Gray Red Lights on Prairies ii. 36 When the first oratorical thunder clapped, the chief, the mayor..took to the storm cellars to wait for the storm to blow over. 1977 J. Cleary Vortex i. 8 People build storm cellars to retreat to. |
| 1894 Harper's Weekly 7 Apr. 315 It establishes a sort of Weather Bureau of disease, and..is to show..where the *storm centres of communicable disease are. 1900 A. Church & Peterson Nervous & Mental Dis. (ed. 2) 181 The initial or signal symptom..becomes highly significant as pointing to the storm-center, the point of greatest instability and usually the seat of organic disease. 1900 Jrnl. Sch. Geog. (U.S.) June 228 To fix the direction of the storm centre from the vessel, it is thus only necessary to face the wind. 1965 Listener 30 Sept. 481/2 Europe is no longer the storm centre in world affairs. The clouds have shifted to Asia. 1978 M. Puzo Fools Die xxix. 335 She was having a good time standing outside the party storm center. |
| 1966 P. Hinde Fortune in North Sea viii. 154 The first safety valve is installed and left at the bottom of each production well at sea, and is known as the *Storm Choke. 1975 North Sea Background Notes (Brit. Petroleum Co.) 40 Precautions are taken to shut down production automatically on any failure of the wellhead or flow-line by installing suitable safety valves. These are the ‘storm choke’ in the well bore,..and the surface safety valve. |
| 1844 H. Piddington Horn-bk. of Storms 5 The horn plates in the pockets of this book are what is called Col. Reid's Hurricane, or *Storm, circles, or cards. |
| 1819 Scott Leg. Montrose xiv, ‘That,’ said he, ‘must be the alarm—the *storm-clock, as the Germans call it.’ |
| 1822 ― Maid of Isla ii, Her white wing gleams through mist and spray, Against the *storm-cloud. |
| 1830 J. F. Watson Annals of Philadelphia 179 In the year 1749, I met with the incidental mention of a singular over-coat, worn by captain James as a *storm coat, made entirely of beaver fur. 1849 Thoreau Week Concord Riv. 250 He ran along over the wet stones like a wrecker in his storm coat. 1897 Outing (U.S.) XXX. 162/2 Stormcoat. 1953 ‘S. Ransome’ Drag Dark (1954) i. 16 The corpse..wore..a tan gabardine storm⁓coat, and big galoshes. 1974 ‘J. Ross’ Burning of Billy Toober i. 7 His stiff-fabric stormcoat. 1981 Daily Tel. 30 Mar. 18/5 Snug, high-collared storm coats are ready to roam Tibetan mountains. |
| 1898 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 124/1 Men's Klondike mining coats,..with 6-inch *storm collar and capot to pull over the head. 1899 [see empiecement]. 1931 Daily Mail 26 May 1/4 (Advt.), West Riding suiting coats... Smart Storm Collar and pull-in Belt. |
| 1863 in Fitzroy Rep. Meteorologic Office (1864) p. xi. note, This morning the *storm cone was hoisted. |
| 1843 H. Piddington in Jrnl. Asiatic Soc. Bengal XII. i. 398 The ‘*storm current’ may be briefly described as circular streams on the circumferences of rotatory storms. |
| 1878 E. B. Tuttle Border Tales 29 The horses..broke loose from the stable, and begun gnawing the *storm doors in front of the officers' quarters. 1939 H. M. Miner St. Denis ii. 25 Storm doors or built-on entries are put on the houses in winter. 1977 Grimsby Even. Tel. 27 May 17/7 (Advt.), Freehold semi-detached house... Porch with storm door. Entrance Hall. |
| 1960 C. Achebe No Longer at Ease ii. 16 His car was parked close to a wide-open *storm drain from which came a very strong smell of rotting flesh. 1974 N. Gordimer Conservationist 218 The English-language evening paper published a picture of a pet dog being rescued from a flooded storm-drain by the fire brigade. |
| 1866 Daily Tel. 18 Jan. 4/5 It is not because occasional perturbations..baffle the reckonings of science, that meteorology should be ignored—four times out of five the *storm-drum is right. 1881 Times 19 Jan. 10/3 This evening the south storm-drum is hoisted at the semaphore at the Dockyard. |
| a 1847 Eliza Cook Birds v. 21 The *storm-fire burns, but what care they? 1883 A. I. Menken Infelicia 38 Heed not the storm-fires that so terribly burn in the black sky. |
| 1896 Weather Bureau Bull. (U.S.) No. 80. 7 Two *storm flags (red with black centers), displayed one above the other,..announce the expected approach of tropical hurricanes. |
| 1929 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 373/1 Palmetto Tent... Insect-proof mosquito door and rear window with *storm flap operated from inside. 1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 41 Trench-coat... This short-cape effect is often called a ‘storm cape’ or ‘storm flaps’. 1972 Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 13/2 (Advt.), Nylon Mountain Tent... Rear screen window with storm flap. 1973 Shooting Times & Country Mag. 7 July 37/2 (Advt.), Zip full length from neck to hem, covered by storm flap. |
| 1823 Mech. Mag. I. 174 Those glasses..which are sold in the shops of opticians, under the name of ‘*Storm Glasses’. 1864 Spencer Biol. 78 The relation between the phenomena occurring in the storm-glass and in the atmosphere respectively, is really not a correspondence at all. |
| 1877 C. P. Tiele Outl. Hist. Relig. 113 In this conflict he [Indra vritrahan] is surrounded by the Maruts or *storm-gods, led by Rudra. |
| 1869 H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 320 The character of a *storm-goddess, in which she [the Lamia] thus appears. |
| 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §455 The next characteristic is the *storm-head window. |
| 1419 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 146 Et in salar. Will. de Cloke, carpentarii, emendantis diversos defectus in le Ales, et facientis *Storm-holes. |
| 1836 T. Power Impressions Amer. I. 31 She..had stump-royal masts, and a *storm-house abaft. 1839 Southern Lit. Messenger V. 8/2 The James Cropper..was fitted with..a storm house over the wheel. 1887 Harper's Mag. Dec. 119/1 Two men..were bending down at the storm-house in front of her parlor-door. |
| 1844 H. Miller in W. K. Leask Life iv. (1896) 109 Encased in his ample-skirted *storm-jacket of oiled canvas. |
| c 1810 W. Hickey Mem. (1960) xiii. 207 It blew so hard we could scarcely carry a close-reefed mainsail and *storm-jib. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xlvii, Another try-sail and a storm-jib were expanded to the wind. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Storm-jib, in cutters, the fifth or sixth size: the inner jib of square-rigged ships. |
| Ibid., *Storm-kite, a contrivance for sending a hawser from a stranded vessel to the shore. |
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 553/2 Cold Blast or *Storm Lantern: is made on the same principle as street lamps, with wind break. 1923 W. Deeping Secret Sanctuary xx. 207 He..lit the storm-lantern he used at night, and extinguished the lamp. 1964 D. Varaday Gara-Yaka vi. 51, I hurried to the hut with a storm lantern. 1976 Norwich Mercury 17 Dec. 6/7 If the light fails, you use a storm lantern. |
| 1843 Emerson Misc. Papers, Carlyle Wks. (Bohn) III. 315 It is not serene sunshine, but everything is seen in lurid *storm-lights. 1906 Month June 629 That the poets..should many of them allude to the mysterious storm-lights in their poems, is not surprising. |
| 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 135 *Storm Mizen. This sail is triangular, and..bends on the fore part to a horse, abaft and parallel to the mizen-mast. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Storm-pane, a supplementary, framed sheet of glass, to substitute, in an emergency, for a broken pane in a lighthouse. 1888 Stevenson Across the Plains (1892) 176 The reflectors scratched, the spare lamp unready, the storm-panes in the storehouse. |
| 1850 W. R. Birt Hurricane Guide 55 The lower and upper branches of the *storm paths of the Northern Atlantic. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Storm-pavement, the sloping stone paving which lines the sea-face of piers and breakwaters. |
| 1647 J. Sprigge Anglia Rediv. (1854) 257 The line, both upon the bulwarks and the curtain was strongly set with *storm-poles. |
| 1879 Lumberman's Gaz. 15 Oct., Houses..should be protected at every much-used entrance, by *storm-porches. |
| 1869 Ruskin Q. of Air i. §20 Another beneficent *storm power, Boreas, occupies an important place in early legend. |
| 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. C 4, Sailers doo pitch their apparell to make it *storme proofe. 1886 N. L. Walford Parl. Generals of Civil War 258 There had not been sufficient time..to make them [sc. the fortifications] storm-proof. 1901 Storm-proof [see cover-all, coverall n.]. 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. May 335/2 The lamp is stormproof, and is unaffected by cold weather, while it constitutes the safest form of street-lighting that has yet been devised. 1911 J. H. Rose Pitt. & Gt. War vii. 192 The constitution had suffered dilapidation, but it was storm-proof. 1968 R. M. Patterson Finlay's River 224 So I set up a good storm-proof camp on a level point between two streams. |
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 522/3 Woman's *Storm Rubber: nothing better for wet weather. 1924–25 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Fall & Winter 146/2 Women's first quality Black Storm Rubbers with round toes and low heels. |
| 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xi, We came down to double-reefed topsails and the *storm-sails. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Storm-sail, a sail made of stout No. 1 canvas, of reduced dimensions, for use in a gale. |
| 1887 W. E. S. Fales Brooklyn's Guardians iii. 43 The improvements contemplated the repairing of the great thoroughfares..; the construction of *storm sewers. 1941 Sun (Baltimore) 16 Sept. 9/3 Silting-up of the channel, due, it is said, to discharge from storm sewers. 1978 J. Irving World according to Garp iv. 77 The storm sewers bogged. |
| 1834 E. W. Brayley Graphic & Historical Illustrator 395/1 All the windows..are protected by *storm-shutters. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 18 Mar. 10/1 All the windows, too, have storm-shutters. |
| 1863 in Fitzroy Rep. Meteorologic Office (1864) p. xi. note, Drum *storm signal hoisted at noon. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Storm-signal, the hoisting of a danger-flag. Also, Fitzroy's drum and cone, which show the direction of the expected gale. 1905 W. O'Brien Recoll. vii. 136 We who knew Egan's storm-signals, saw the tips of his ears redden and a bright scarlet point appear in the centre of his cheeks. |
| 1875 Chamb. Journal 2 Jan. 8/1 *Storm-signalling apparatus is supplied by the Board of Trade. |
| 1857 M. F. Maury in D. F. M. Corbin Life (1888) 135 The *storm-spencer had been blown away. |
| 1491 Acta Dom. Conc. (1839) 203/1 In the accioun..tueching þe takin of a schip & gudes..*stormestaid & drevin to þe Erlis fery. 1787 Burns Let. W. Cruikshank June, I was storm-staid two days at the foot of the Ochill Hills. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxii. 216 An abrupt change of the weather gave us a howling gale outside, and we were all of us storm-stayed. 1880 I. L. Bird Japan I. 344 The yadoyas are crowded with storm-staid travellers. |
| 1850 L. Hunt Autob. II. 255 We set the fore *storm-staysail anew. |
| 1513 Douglas æneis iii. iii. (heading), How Troiane goddis apperis to Enee, And how that he was *stormested on the see. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iii. 94, I stayed sixteene dayes, storme-sted with Northernely winds. 1888 Barrie Auld Licht Idylls ii. 41 Storm-stead shows used to emphasize the severity of a Thrums winter. |
| 1929 A. T. Doodson Rep. Thames Floods 5 If there are no tidal predictions available the problem of separating the *storm surge from the tidal oscillation is by no means easy. 1956 Proc. R. Soc. A. CCXXXVII. 325 The problem [of the mathematical solution of tides in a closed channel] is increased in difficulty when a storm surge of a non-periodic character is superposed upon the periodic tide. 1970 D. A. Ross Introd. Oceanogr. vii. 229 In the Gulf Coast area of the United States, storm surges have been known to raise the water level as much as 7m. |
| 1897 Daily News 26 Jan. 7/1 Later in the day the *storm-system continued to increase in depth. |
| 1838 W. Reid Law of Storms 430 The *storm tracks here traced. |
| 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick III. xxxvii. 213 A *storm-trysail was set further aft. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Storm-trysail, a fore-and-aft sail, hoisted by a gaff, but having no boom at its foot, and only used in foul weather. 1967 L. S. Tawes Coasting Captain 259, I slacked off my storm trysail sheet. |
| 1867 A. Buchan Meteorol. 9 *Storm-warnings. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 158/1 Weather Forecasts and Storm Warnings. |
| 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. III. 394 *Storm-waters, as they may be called,..fall in such quantities within..an hour or two as entirely to overcharge all ordinary systems of drainage. 1887 Meredith Ball. Tragic Life 92 Howled and pressed the ghastly crew, Like storm-waters over rocks. 1905 Daily Chron. 3 July 6/7 Heavy rain began to come down—so heavy that the storm-water sewers were not able to take it off. |
| 1839 D. Milne in Trans. R. Soc. Edin. XIV. 486 This *storm-wave (for such it may not improperly be termed) moved..through the Atlantic in a N.NE. direction. 1874 L. Carr Judith Gwynne I. iv. 120 Her bosom would heave with a great storm-wave of passionate emotion. |
| 1839 Longfellow Hyperion i. vii, The *storm-wind came from the Alsatian hills. 1873 Hamerton Intell. Life ii. iv. (1876) 72 Like..a steamer with a storm-wind directly against her and an iron-bound coast behind. 1892 G. F. X. Griffith tr. Fouard's St. Peter 78 The storm-winds of trial swept over them. 1923 Storm wind [see gale n.3 1 a]. 1959 Gloss. Meteorol. (Amer. Meteorol. Soc.) 545 Storm wind, in the Beaufort wind scale, a wind whose speed is from 56 to 63 knots (64 to 72 mph). |
| 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Let. iv, There were what are called *storm-windows in the roof. 1933 L. I. Wilder Farmer Boy xxii. 174 They fitted storm doors and storm windows on the house. 1956 W. R. Bird Off-Trail in Nova Scotia ii. 51 She's always nagging Sam to take off the storm windows, whitewash the fence. 1978 Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. c21/1 (Advt.), 3 Track Storm Window $20.95 each. |
| 15.. Aberd. Reg. (MS.) (Jam.) The bigging of the *storme-windoik. |
| 1889 R. Hinman Eclectic Physical Geogr. vi. 94 The regions between 40° and 70° latitude are the great *storm zones of the world. |
e. In names of certain birds, the movements or cries of which are supposed to presage a storm:
storm-bird, (
a)
= storm-petrel; (
b)
= thunder-bird b (see
thunder n. 6); (
c) a local name (Norfolk) for the fieldfare (Swainson);
storm cock, the missel-thrush; also locally applied to the fieldfare and the green woodpecker (Miss Jackson
Shropsh. Word-bk.);
storm-finch (
† storm-finck,
† storm-fink)
= storm-petrel;
storm-petrel,
Procellaria pelagica (
cf. stormy a. 3);
storm thrush, the missel-thrush.
These words are sometimes used
fig. to designate a person whose activity is a sign of impending discord.
| 1752 J. Hill Hist. Anim. 514 [The Petrel] was first mentioned in the Stockholm Transactions, under the name of Procellaria, or the *Storm-bird. 1867 Goldw. Smith 3 Eng. Statesmen (1882) 34 Lady Carlyle—a storm-bird of this parliamentary storm. 1913 R. Harris Boanerges xxv. 267 The Arabian Storm-bird or thunder-bird. |
| 1769 G. White Selborne, To Barrington 2 Nov., Missel-bird, Turdus viscivorus... Is called in Hampshire and Sussex the *storm-cock. 1819 M. Edgeworth Let. 26 Jan. (1971) 160 When a dark black cloud threatens a heavy shower..then the storm-cock cries or screams. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad 17 So braver notes the storm-cock sings To start the rusted wheel of things. 1902 G. Brenan House of Percy II. ii. 32 Charles Paget—storm-cock of Catholic agitation. 1978 Country Life 7 Sept. 630/1 The mistle thrush..will sing in the wildest weather and fully justify its vernacular name of storm⁓cock. |
| 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Isagoge a 6 [Aquatic birds] as the..*stormfinck. 1804 T. Bewick Brit. Birds II. 249 Stormy Petrel. Storm Finch, or Little Petrel. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Storm-finch, the petrel, or Mother Cary's chicken. |
| 1833 P. J. Selby Illustr. Brit. Ornith. II. 533 Common *Storm-Petrel. Ibid. 537 Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel. 1885 Newton in Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 712/1 The common Storm Petrel, Procellaria pelagica,..is the ‘Mother Carey's chicken’ of sailors, and is widely believed to be the harbinger of bad weather. |
| 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Storm-cock or *Storm-thrush. The missel-thrush. 1913 Engl. Rev. Apr. 157 Like a storm-thrush piping its warning. |
▪ II. storm, v. (
stɔːm)
[f. storm n. (OE. had styrman, early ME. sturme v.)] 1. intr. Of the elements or weather: To be tempestuous or stormy, to rage.
| 14.. Chaucer's Boeth. i. met. vii. (1868) 29 Þe trouble wynde þat hyȝt auster stormynge [Camb. MS. turnyng: L. mare volvens] and walwyng þe see medleþ þe heete. 1564 T. Stapleton tr. Staphylus' Apol. Pref. 3 As the quiet passanger when the sea stormeth. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Dec. 131 So now he [winter] stormes with many a sturdy stoure. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. x. 74 From Shetland straddling wide, his foote on Thuly sets: Whence storming, all the vast Deucalidon hee [Boreas] threts. |
| fig. c 1611 Chapman Iliad i. 148 That..he, whose bow thus stormd For our offences, may be calmd. |
b. impers. To blow violently; also to rain, snow, etc. heavily. Now only
U.S.| 1530 Palsgr. 130 Il tempeste, it stormeth. 1598 W. Phillip tr. Linschoten 5/2 The nearer wee are vnto the land, the more it stormeth, raineth, thundreth and calmeth. |
| 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast v, Throughout the night it stormed violently—rain, hail, snow and sleet beating upon the vessel. 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer. 336 To storm, to blow with violence; impersonally, as, it storms. We use it improperly in the sense of to rain or to snow. 1856 Miss Warner Hills Shatemuc xix, Come in..it is going to storm hard... It's going to be a bad storm;—you'll be better under here. 1858 M. F. Maury in D. F. M. Corbin Life (1888) 168 It is now snowing and storming furiously. 1872 ‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. ii. 20 It was still raining. And not only raining, but storming. ‘Outside’..there was a tremendous sea on. 1894 Chamb. Jrnl. 16 June 376/1 Oh, but the nuts fall much more quickly when it storms. |
c. transf. To rush with the violence of a storm.
| 1842 Tennyson Vision of Sin 25 The music..Rose again from where it seem'd to fail, Storm'd in orbs of song, a growing gale. 1854 ― Charge Light Brigade iii, Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death. |
2. trans. To make stormy. In
quots. fig. to trouble, vex, disturb. Also
pass.| 1597 Shakes. Lover's Compl. i, I..Ere long espied a fickle maid..Storming her world with sorrowes, wind and raine. 1878 Browning Poets Croisic lxiv, Our simulated thunder⁓claps Which tell us counterfeited truths—these same Are—sound, when music storms the soul, perhaps?—Sight, [etc.]. 1883 H. W. Beecher in Chr. World Pulpit XXIV. 122/3, I honour men who are stormed like the ocean, whose sky is dark, on whom the waves of trouble roll. |
3. intr. To complain with rough and violent language; to rage. Const.
at,
against (a grievance or person).
| 1553 Respublica i. iii. 211 Avar. Feyth, manne, I spake but even to prove your pacyence, that yf thowe haddest grunted or stormed thereat, Adul. Naie, fewe times doe I vse suche lowde manier as that. Ibid. iii. vi. 935 Ye muste storme & sharpelye take hym vp for stumbling. 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 1225/1 The Priestes..began to grudge & storme against Tyndall. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie ii. (1625) 26 Such odde kinde of reports..the least whereof would make you storme to the gall. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. iii. 138 Why looke you how you storme, I would be friends with you. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turkes (1621) 1254 Storming against their Generall for not being a coward, as they themselves were. c 1611 Chapman Iliad v. 868 O Father stormst thou not To see vs take these wrongs from men? 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 15 Oh they storme and rage as a Beare robbed of her Whelpes. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 90 She curses and storms at me like a trooper. 1797 Mrs. Berkeley Poems of G. M. Berkeley Pref. p. ccxxviii, Mrs. Berkeley used to storm nobly on these occasions. 1813 Byron Br. Abydos i. xiii, And he so often storms at nought. 1867 Trollope Chron. Barset I. xiv. 120 He'll storm and threaten and stop the supplies for a month or so. 1885 L'pool Daily Post 30 June 4/7 They storm like very demons when anyone ventures to hint that the Highland crofter is not the paragon of the human race. 1889 Barrie Window in Thrums xii. 108, I do not want to storm at the man. |
b. quasi-trans. with complement.
| 1839 Bailey Festus 286 Although..they may have put God from them—Disowned His prophets..and stormed His curses back to Him; yet..He can pity still. 1891 Kipling Light that Failed xv. 335 Dick roused, struck him over the head with the butt, and stormed himself wide awake. |
4. pass. To be exposed to the severity of the weather; to suffer severely from cold. Now
dial.| c 1440 York Myst. xiv. 16 And yf we here all nyght abide, We shall be stormed in þis steede. c 1636 Strafford in Browning Life (1892) 187 He was found dead..and in a cold night and lodging, stormed to death. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Storm'd, starved, pinched with cold. |
5. trans. To make (seed-hay) storm-proof by piling the sheaves in small stacks.
local.
| 1862 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XXIII. 63 Ere it [the rain] arrives..several acres of his hay-seed are already in the field stack. Thus it is saved, by being stormed, as the local [Warwickshire] phrase well expresses it. |
6. Mil. To make a vigorous assault on (a fortified position); to take or attempt to take by storm or assault.
| 1645 Cromwell in Carlyle Lett. & Sp. (1845) I. 227 By means of this entrance of Colonel Hammond they did storm the Fort on that part which was inward. 1646 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 54 The General Major of the horses wold haue the wallis of the citie stormit vpoun all quarteris. 1651 Lamont Diary (Maitl. Club) 32 They stormed Dundie, and caried the towne. 1692 Prior Ode imit. Hor. 31 All Day to Mount the Trench, to Storm the Breach. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 260 Several of their bravest officers were shot down in the act of storming the fortress. 1874 Green Short Hist. i. §6. 49 æthelred stormed the Danish camp at Benfleet. |
b. transf. and
fig.| 1652 R. Loveday Hymen's Præludia 301 He basely resolves to storm her chastity. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. (ed. 2) 99 Thus People are stormed out of their Reason and Inclinations; plagued into a Compliance; and forced to yield in their own Defence. 1703 S. Sewall Diary 16 Mar. (1879) II. 75 So should we patiently..sing the Praises of God,..though Storm'd by the last efforts of Antichrist. 1730 T. Boston Mem. xii. (1899) 395 The toothache has stormed my lower teeth so that I think they are beginning to give way too. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. xlix, Here the bold peasant storm'd the dragon's nest. 1820 Keats Eve of S. Agnes x, A hundred swords Will storm his heart, Love's feverous citadel. 1841 Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. x, She would have stormed Lady Jane Preston's door, and forced her way up-stairs. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvi. III. 697 At last it seemed that heaven had been stormed by the violence of supplication: the truth came out, and many lies with it. 1910 Ld. Rosebery Chatham x. 220 Pitt had apparently determined, in the jargon of that day, to storm the Closet. |
7. intr. a. Mil. To rush to an assault or attack.
| 1632 Swed. Intelligencer ii. 47 The Scots..forced the garrison into the inner port; they Storming in together with them. 1645 Cromwell in Carlyle Lett. & Sp. (1845) I. 226 Colonel Montague and Colonel Pickering, who stormed at Lawford's Gate..presently entered. Ibid., The Major-General's regiment being to storm towards Froom River. 1859 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1872) II. 267 A great gap in the ramparts—it may have been a breach which was once stormed through. 1860 Froude Hist. Eng. V. 207 Again the next day they stormed up to the walls. 1877 Tennyson Harold v. i, Our javelins Answer their arrows. All the Norman foot Are storming up the hill. |
b. transf. To rush with violence.
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. ii. vii, How, in this wild Universe, which storms in on him..shall poor man find..footing to stand on. 1863 Longfellow Wayside Inn, i. Falcon 98 The boy, rejoicing in his strength, Stormed down the terraces from length to length. 1870 Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) I. v. 133 On placing the flame at some distance below the beam, the same dark masses stormed upwards. |
Hence
stormed ppl. a., taken by storm.
| 1841 James Brigand ii, The cold wind rushed in fiercely like a besieging army into a stormed city. 1888 E. A. Freeman Four Oxf. Lect. 95 It is our one recorded example of the fate of a stormed town. |