Word.ws English Dictionary

cloud

/ˈklæʊ̯d//ˈklaʊ̯d/

cloud noun: a visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air.

Noun

cloud (plural clouds)

  1. A visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air.
    • While he thus ſpake, there came a cloud, and ouerſhadowed them, ⁊ they feared, as they entred into the cloude.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 9:34
    • So this was my future home, I thought![…]Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
  2. Any mass of dust, steam or smoke resembling such a mass.
    • Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of...2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29
  3. Anything reminiscent of a cloud.
    • The ship moved forward under a cloud of sail.
  4. Anything which makes things foggy, unclear or gloomy.
    • But in one part of the horizon a cloud lay, and the rulers of India were oppressed with a sense of coming disaster. This cloud had begun to form in 1873, and had been continually growing larger; it threw a shadow over gold-debtor nations, and shed a depressing influence over gold-using countries.1898, Edward Frere Marriott, “Papers relating to India”, in Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Committee Appointed to Inquire Into the Indian Currency, No. 37. Memorandum by Captain Edward Frere...
  5. (figuratively) Anything unsubstantial.
  6. A dark spot on a lighter material or background.
  7. (collective) A group or swarm of insects, various animals or people, especially when flying.
    • He opened the door and was greeted by a cloud of bats.
    • so great a cloud of witnesses1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hebrews 12:1
  8. An elliptical shape or symbol whose outline is a series of semicircles, supposed to resemble a cloud.
    • The comic-book character's thoughts appeared in a cloud above his head.
  9. A telecom network (from their representation in engineering drawings).
  10. (with-definite-article, cloud computing) The Internet, regarded as an abstract amorphous omnipresent space for processing and storage, the focus of cloud computing.
    • Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to...2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18
    • […]the cloud could do this, it could do that. The cloud could be powerful and intelligent. It became a business buzzword and a selling point.2018, James Bridle, The New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future, Verso Books, →ISBN
  11. (figuratively) A negative or foreboding aspect of something positive: see every cloud has a silver lining or every silver lining has a cloud.
    • But when he found that some of his interrogatories were evaded, and others answered undecisively, the look of gentleness which he had assumed, vanished, and his brow wore the cloud of disappointment and of anger.1798, Eleanor Sleath, The Orphan of the Rhine
    • The only cloud on their night was that injury to Rafael, who was followed off the pitch by his anxious brother Fabio as he was stretchered away down the tunnel.2011 January 25, Phil McNulty, “Blackpool 2-3 Man Utd”, in BBC
  12. (slang) Crystal methamphetamine.
Show 3 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A large, loosely-knitted headscarf worn by women.
  2. (Internet, endearing, humorous) A white cat.
  3. (obsolete) A rock; boulder; a hill.

Verb

cloud (third-person singular simple present clouds, present participle clouding, simple past and past participle clouded)

  1. (intransitive) To become foggy or gloomy, or obscured from sight.
    • The glass clouds when you breathe on it.
    Synonyms:
    fog, gloom
  2. (transitive) To overspread or hide with a cloud or clouds.
    • The sky is clouded.
    Synonyms:
    becloud
  3. Of the breath, to become cloud; to turn into mist.
    • The horses stamping
      Their warm breath clouding
      In the sharp and frosty morning
      Of the day.1972, “Thick As A Brick”, Ian Anderson (lyrics), performed by Jethro Tull
    Synonyms:
    fog, mist
  4. (transitive) To make obscure.
    • All this talk about human rights is clouding the real issue.
    Synonyms:
    becloud, bedarken, bedim, fog
  5. (transitive) To make less acute or perceptive.
    • Your emotions are clouding your judgement.
    • The tears began to well up and cloud my vision.
  6. (transitive) To make gloomy or sullen.
    • One day too late, I fear me, noble lord,
      Hath clouded all thy happy days on earth.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
    • Be not disheartened, then, nor cloud those looks.1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
    Synonyms:
    begloom, engloom
  7. (transitive) To blacken; to sully; to stain; to tarnish (reputation or character).
    • I would not be a stander-by to hear
      My sovereign mistress clouded so, without
      My present vengeance taken.c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
  8. (transitive) To mark with, or darken in, veins or sports; to variegate with colors.
    • to cloud yarn
    • The nice conduct of a clouded cane1714, Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC, canto IV
  9. (intransitive) To become marked, darkened or variegated in this way.

Proper noun capitalized: Cloud

Cloud

  1. A surname.

cloud meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

cloud in Hindi

visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air
मेघ megh, बादल bādal, अभ्र abhra

cloud in Tamil

visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air
மேகம் mēkam
the Internet
மேகம் mēkam
to become foggy or gloomy, to become obscured from sight
மங்கலா maṅkalā
to make obscure (e.g. to cloud the issue)
மூடு mūṭu

cloud in Marathi

visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air
ढग ḍhag, मेघ megh
the Internet
क्लाउड klāuḍ

cloud in Urdu

visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air
میگھ megh, بادَل bādal, اَبْر abr, سَحاب sahāb
More languagesFewer languages
cloud in Bengali
মেঘ megh
cloud in Telugu
మేఘము mēghamu, ధూమయోని dhūmayōni, పయోధరము payōdharamu, పొగమేఘము pogamēghamu
cloud in Malayalam
മേഘം mēghaṁ, മുകിൽ mukil, എഴിലി eḻili
cloud in Kannada
ಮೇಘ mēgha
cloud in Punjabi
ਬੱਦਲ਼ baddaḷ, ਬੱਦਲ baddal, بَدَّࣇ baddaḷ, بَدَّل baddal
cloud in Gujarati
વાદળ vādaḷ, મેઘ megh
cloud in Odia
ମେଘ megha
cloud in Sanskrit
मेघ megha, अभ्र abhrá, वारिद vārida
cloud in Sinhala
වලාකුළ walākuḷa
cloud in Assamese
ডাৱৰ dawor, মেঘ megh, মেহ meh, বাদল badol
cloud in Nepali
बादल bādal
cloud in Pashto
ورېځ woreź
cloud in Tagalog
ulap, alapaap
cloud in Arabic
سَحَاب saḥāb, غَيْم ḡaym, غَمَام ḡamām, عَنَان ʕanān
cloud in Malay
awan, mega, merawan, kepulan
cloud in Indonesian
awan
cloud in Persian
اَبْر abr, میغ mēġ, مُزْنَه muzna, مُزْنِه mozne
cloud in Thai
เมฆ mêek
cloud in Vietnamese
mây
cloud in Myanmar
တိမ် tim
Sindhi
بَادَلُ bādalu
Dhivehi
ވިލާ vilā

Examples of cloud in a sentence

  • The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29:
  • “But there’s no fucking cloud,” says Crabapple, “there’s other people’s computers.2024 February 17, Tom Lamont, quoting Molly Crabapple, “‘Humanity’s remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50’: meet the...

All 40 example sentences with cloud

Synonyms of cloud

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of cloud

Forms of cloud

Noun
pluralclouds
alternative Early Moderncloude
alternative Early Modernclowd
Verb
third-person singular presentclouds
present participleclouding
past participleclouded
pastclouded

Past tense of cloud: clouded

Plural of cloud: clouds

Origin of cloud

From Middle English cloud, from Old English clūd (“mass of stone, rock, boulder, hill”), from Proto-West Germanic *klūt, from Proto-Germanic *klūtaz, *klutaz (“lump, mass, conglomeration”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up, clench”). Cognate with Scots clood, clud (“cloud”), Dutch kluit (“lump, mass, clod”), German Low German Kluut, Kluute (“lump, mass, ball”), German Kloß (“lump, ball, dumpling”), Danish klode (“sphere, orb, planet”), Swedish klot (“sphere, orb, ball, globe”), Icelandic klót (“knob on a sword's hilt”). Related to English clod, clot, clump, club. Largely replaced Middle English welkne, from Old English wolcn (whence English welkin), from Proto-Germanic *wulkną, the original Germanic word for cloud (compare Dutch wolk, German Wolke, North Frisian and West Frisian wolk).

* As an English surname, from Old English clūd (“rock”). * As a Native American surname, translated from names such as Dakota mahpiya (“cloud”). Compare Red Cloud. * As a French surname, from an old Germanic name Hlodald, composed of *hlūd (“loud, famous, clear”) + *wald (“rule”).

Words formed from cloud

Phrases with cloud

114 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with cloud

20 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about cloud

What does cloud mean?
Cloud means a visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air.
What is cloud in Hindi?
Cloud in Hindi is मेघ (megh), बादल (bādal), अभ्र (abhra). See Cloud meaning in Hindi.
How do you use cloud in a sentence?
The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.
What part of speech is cloud?
Cloud can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce cloud?
Cloud is pronounced /ˈklaʊ̯d/ (UK).
What is the plural of cloud?
The plural of cloud is clouds.

Words near cloud in the dictionary

  1. cloturing
  2. clotweed
  3. clou
  4. Clouatre
  5. Clouatres
  6. cloud
  7. cloud 9
  8. cloud bank
  9. cloud banks
  10. cloud base
  11. cloud bases

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cloud (page history and authors); Cloud (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-cloud.ogg, En-uk-cloud.ogg.

Cite this entry: “cloud.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cloud. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.