What does "thunderbolt" mean?
Thunderbolt: Something resembling lightning in suddenness and effectiveness. The Scipios' worth, those thunderbolts of war. Dryden.
Additional senses
- 2.Vehement threatening or censure; especially, ecclesiastical denunciation; fulmination. He severely threatens such with the thunderbolt of excommunication. Hakewill.
- 3.(Paleon.) A belemnite, or thunderstone. Thunderbolt beetle (Zoöl.), a long-horned beetle (Arhopalus fulminans) whose larva bores in the trunk of oak and chestnut trees. It is brownish and bluish-black, with W-shaped whitish or silvery markings on the elytra.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00