Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use thunder in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Thunder means the loud rumbling, cracking, or crashing sound caused by expansion of rapidly heated air around a lightning bolt. Example: “Thunder is preceded by lightning.”

Examples of thunder by meaning

nounThe loud rumbling, cracking, or crashing sound caused by expansion of rapidly heated air around a lightning bolt.

  • Thunder is preceded by lightning.
  • Thunder cracked overhead.
  • With each clap of thunder echoing from one high building to another the noise was terrific.1953 July, Allen Rowley, “First Impressions of American Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 493

nounA deep, rumbling noise resembling thunder.

  • Off in the distance, he heard the thunder of hoofbeats, signalling a stampede.

nounSynonym of thunder word.

  • Adam's fall and Vico's thunder are embodied in a word of a hundred letters, the first of ten thunders in the Wake.1996, William York Tindall, A Reader's Guide to Finnegans Wake, page 31

verbTo produce thunder; to sound, rattle, or roar, as a discharge of atmospheric electricity.

  • It thundered continuously.

verbTo make a noise like thunder.

  • The train thundered along the tracks.
  • The farmer whose land the Pratincole had chosen to frequent had such an adversion to birders that he had been thundering up and down all day in a high-powered muck-spreader, splattering them with cow dung!1983, Bill Oddie, Gone Birding, London: Methuen, page 59
  • His words landed like a bomb, and my ears thundered with noise.2019, Abby Chava Stein, Becoming Eve, Seal Press, page 46

verbTo say (something) with a loud, threatening voice.

  • "Get back to work at once!", he thundered.

More sentences with thunder

  • Thunder boomed in the distance and lightning flashes lit up the horizon.From the entry boom
  • Although we did not see the lightning, we did hear the thunder.From the entry lightning
  • There was a roll of thunder and the rain began to pour down.From the entry roll
  • The rays of the sun were extinguished by the thunder clouds.From the entry extinguish
  • Thunder almost always accompanies lightning during a rain storm.From the entry accompany
  • After the lightning came the crash of thunder.From the entry crash
  • Off in the distance, he heard the clap of thunder.From the entry clap
  • The thunder rolled and the lightning flashed.From the entry roll
  • I could hear the thunder rumbling in the distance.From the entry rumble
  • The rumbling of distant thunder echoed from the hilltop.From the entry rumbling
  • After a clap of thunder, down came the rain.From the entry come down
  • Music thundered reverberatingly out of the church organ.From the entry reverberatingly
  • For quotations using this term, see Citations:heat thunder.From the entry heat thunder
  • Like Zeus, Dyeus was a male god of sky and thunder.2018, Michael Mayerfeld Bell, “Chapter 2: Nature Before Nature”, in City of the Good: Nature, Religion, and the Ancient Search for What Is…. From the entry Dyeus
  • “It was the dumbestass thing you could've done!” Captain Gonsalves thundered.2012, Brett Patton, Mecha Rogue: A Novel of the Armor Wars, Penguin, →ISBN. From the entry dumbestass
  • Simeti, the bright light of his eye, had perished in the fire and smoke and thunder.2010, David Luders, Cataclysm, page 91. From the entry light of one's eye
  • Beyond the gate I could hear the roar and thunder of Conal’s fighters storming across the machair.2010 August 13, Gillian Philip, chapter 38, in Firebrand (Rebel Angels; 1), East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire: Strident Publishing, →ISBN…. From the entry oh, gods
  • Lightning exploded through the sky, followed quickly by a tremulant clap of thunder.2009, Faye Kellerman, The Quality of Mercy, →ISBN, page 436. From the entry tremulant
  • Broad leaves of the multitude of banana trees thundered from the force.2007 March 5, Kresley Cole, The Price of Pleasure, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 68. From the entry pule
  • Speak in a voice of thunder and a voice of gentle breezes.2006, Amber K, True Magick: A Beginner's Guide. From the entry goddessy
  • I remember my Mother defusing our scare of summer thunder with an explanation learned from her Mother.2004, Stan Monaghan, In the Wake of Maureen Reilly, page 103. From the entry angels moving the furniture
  • "Heat lightning" is simply distant lightning whose thunder cannot be heard.2001, Lee M. Grenci, Jon M. Nese, A World of Weather: Fundamentals of Meteorology: a Text/ Laboratory Manual, Kendall Hunt, →ISBN, page 205. From the entry heat lightning
  • The sense of accomplishment is yours to enjoy, and nobody can steal your thunder.2001, Holly Bergeim, The Customized No No-Nos Weight Loss Plan, →ISBN, page 40. From the entry steal someone's thunder
  • One day when Cook was talking with Red Cloud the subject of the thunder beasts came up.2000', Donald R. Prothero, Robert M. Schoch, Horns, Tusks, and Flippers: The Evolution of Hoofed Mammals, page 231. From the entry thunder beast
  • I counted five Mississippis between each flash of lightning and the thunder crash that followed.1997, George Clark, The Small Bees’ Honey: Stories, Buffalo, NY: White Pine Press, page 129. From the entry Mississippi
  • Perch this over a hole in the ground and voila! you have a thunder box.1992, Gerald Durrell, “Crystal Country and beyond”, in The Aye-aye and I: A Rescue Mission in Madagascar, London: BCA, →ISBN, page 94. From the entry thunderbox
  • A starship thundered invisibly close overhead, its gravs at full lift-off power.1992, Bill Baldwin, The Defenders. From the entry grav
  • Not tropical - with lightning, thunder, great release after hours of tension.1990, Susan Sherman, The color of the heart: writing from struggle & change, 1959-1990. From the entry by the by
  • While we were in the Twins it began to thunder and lighten and pour with rain.1986, Helen Garner, Yellow Notebook: Diaries 1978-1987, Text Publishing, published 2022, page 182. From the entry lighten
  • She sure is, a quirky, almost Betty-Boopish voice that thunders when it wants to.1983 December 9, David Okamoto, “A Binge in the Bins — and here’s help”, in The Tampa Tribune, 89th year, number 293, page 25, column 1. From the entry Betty-Boopish

Meaning of thunder

  1. noun The loud rumbling, cracking, or crashing sound caused by expansion of rapidly heated air around a lightning bolt.
  2. noun A deep, rumbling noise resembling thunder.
  3. noun An alarming or startling threat or denunciation.

Full definition of thunder

Questions about thunder in a sentence

How do you use thunder in a sentence?
Thunder is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Thunder is preceded by lightning.”
What is a short sentence with thunder?
“It thundered continuously.”
What does thunder mean?
Thunder means the loud rumbling, cracking, or crashing sound caused by expansion of rapidly heated air around a lightning bolt.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: thunder (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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