storm

Etymology 1

From Middle English storm (“disturbed state of the atmosphere; heavy precipitation; battle, conflict; attack”) [and other forms], from Old English storm (“tempest, storm; attack; storm of arrows; disquiet, disturbance, tumult, uproar; onrush, rush”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *sturm (“storm”), from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz (“storm”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)twerH- (“to agitate, stir up; to propel; to urge on”). Related to stir. cognates * Danish storm (“storm”) * Dutch storm (“storm”) * German Sturm (“storm”) * Icelandic stormur (“storm”) * Low German storm (“storm”) * Norwegian Bokmål storm (“storm”) * Norwegian Nynorsk storm (“storm”) * Scots storm (“storm”) * Swedish storm (“storm”) * West Frisian stoarm (“storm”)

noun

1. Any disturbed state of the atmosphere causing destructive or unpleasant weather, especially one affecting the earth's surface involving strong winds (leading to high waves at sea) and usually lightning, thunder, and precipitation; a tempest.
   1. (by extension) A heavy fall of precipitation (hail, rain, or snow) or bout of lightning and thunder without strong winds; a hail storm, rainstorm, snowstorm, or thunderstorm.
   2. (by extension) Synonym of cyclone (“a weather phenomenon consisting of a system of winds rotating around a centre of low atmospheric pressure”)
   3. (by extension, Canada, Scotland, US, dated) A period of frosty and/or snowy weather.
   4. (meteorology) A disturbed state of the atmosphere between a severe or strong gale and a hurricane on the modern Beaufort scale, with a wind speed of between 89 and 102 kilometres per hour (55–63 miles per hour; 10 on the scale, known as a "storm" or whole gale), or of between 103 and 117 kilometres per hour (64–72 miles per hour; 11 on the scale, known as a "violent storm").
2. (figurative)
   1. A heavy expulsion or fall of things (as blows, objects which are thrown, etc.).
      a storm of bullets
   2. A violent agitation of human society; a domestic, civil, or political commotion.
      The proposed reforms have led to a political storm.
   3. A violent commotion or outbreak of sounds, speech, thoughts, etc.; also, an outpouring of emotion.
      a storm of protest
   4. (pathology) Chiefly with a qualifying word: a violent attack of diease, pain, physiological reactions, symptoms, etc.; a paroxysm.
      asthmatic storm cytokine storm
3. (Canada, US, chiefly in the plural) Ellipsis of storm window (“a second window (originally detachable) attached on the exterior side of a window in climates with harsh winters, to add an insulating layer of still air between the outside and inside”).

Etymology 2

The verb is derived from Middle English stormen (“of the wind: to blow violently; to cause to roll or toss”), from storm (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitives of verbs). Compare Middle English sturmen (“to attack (someone) with great force”), from Old English styrman (“to rage, storm; to make a great noise, cry aloud, shout, storm”), from Proto-West Germanic *sturmijan (“to storm”), from Proto-Germanic *sturmijaną (“to storm”), from *sturmaz (“a storm”) (see etymology 1) + *-janą (suffix forming causatives from strong verbs, with a sense of ‘to cause to do [the action of the verb]’). The Middle English word did not survive into modern English. The noun is derived from verb sense 2.3 (“to violently assault (a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.) with the aim of gaining control of it”). cognates * Dutch stormen (“to bluster, storm”) * German stürmen (“to rage, storm; to assault, attack”) * Icelandic storma (“to storm”) * Low German stormen (“to storm”) * Swedish storma (“to bluster, storm”)

verb

1. (impersonal, chiefly US) Preceded by the dummy subject it: to have strong winds and usually lightning and thunder, and/or hail, rain, or snow.
   It stormed throughout the night.
2. (transitive)
   1. To make (someone or something) stormy; to agitate (someone or something) violently.
   2. (figurative)
      1. To disturb or trouble (someone).
      2. To use (harsh language).
   3. (chiefly military) To violently assault (a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.) with the aim of gaining control of it.
      the storming of the Bastille
      Troops stormed the complex.
      The crowd was patient and never dreamed of storming Chungnanhai (which could scarcely have resisted a mass assault) and the most battle-tested groups made no attempt to send their commandos to kidnap the “highest leader.” Calm—if one may use the word—prevailed, and the group leaders were content to lead their followers in chanting slogans against Liu [Shaoqi] and quotations from Mao [Zedong]. The Chairman, like Vice-Chairman Lin Piao, had been away on a tour of inspection in the provinces since early July; at the time of the siege of Chungnanhai, he was in Wuhan. 1974, K. S. Karol, “The August of the Ultra-Left”, in Mervyn Jones, transl., The Second Chinese Revolution[…], New York, N.Y.: Hill and Wang, →OCLC, page 278
      1. (figurative, often poetic) To assault or gain control or power over (someone's heart, mind, etc.).
         No Engines can a Tyrant find, / to ſtorm the Truth-ſupported Mind, […] 1750 March 27 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Thomas Morell (lyrics), George Frideric Handel (music), Theodora: An Oratorio[…], London: […] I. Walsh[…], published [1751], →OCLC, page 17
   4. (Britain, dialectal, agriculture) To protect (seed-hay) from stormy weather by putting sheaves of them into small stacks.
3. (intransitive)
   1. Of the weather: to be violent, with strong winds and usually lightning and thunder, and/or hail, rain, or snow.
   2. To be exposed to harsh (especially cold) weather.
   3. (figurative)
      1. To move noisily and quickly like a storm (noun sense 1), usually in a state of anger or uproar.
         She stormed out of the room.
         A lovely crisp exhaust: a feeling of almost unlimited power combined with complete freedom of running: and, to crown it all, a most melodious and wholly American chime whistle—these were my immediate impressions as we stormed rapidly out of Göttingen, intent on winning back some of the lost time. 1960 October, P. Ransome-Wallis, “Modern Motive Power of the German Federal Railway: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 611
      2. (by extension, chiefly military) To move quickly in the course of an assault on a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.
      3. To be in a violent temper; to use harsh language; to fume, to rage.

noun

1. (military) A violent assault on a fortified position or stronghold.