thunderbolt
noun
thun·der·bolt
ˈthən-dər-ˌbōlt 
1
a
: a single discharge of lightning with the accompanying thunder
b
: an imaginary elongated mass cast as a missile to earth in the lightning flash
2
a
: a person or thing that resembles lightning in suddenness, effectiveness, or destructive power
b
: a vehement threat or censure
Examples of thunderbolt in a Sentence
He was struck dead by a thunderbolt.
Recent Examples on the Web
Trump also survived a gunshot that could have taken his life, and a little more than a week later absorbed another thunderbolt — President Biden’s departure from the race.
—
James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2024
Some of what was unveiled landed like a thunderbolt in American political circles.
—Mekela Panditharatne and Shanze Hasan, TIME, 21 Oct. 2024
An early advocate of preventing space wars by outlawing the deployment of weapons systems in orbit, Marshall predicts that cutting away at the possibility of staging thunderbolt attacks in terrestrial wars could suppress war-making in general.
—Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
In those days, watching a University of Alabama kicker trot out for a field goal was like looking up at the sky and seeing thunderbolts in the distance.
—Alec Lewis, The Athletic, 2 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for thunderbolt 
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James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2024
Some of what was unveiled landed like a thunderbolt in American political circles.
—Mekela Panditharatne and Shanze Hasan, TIME, 21 Oct. 2024
An early advocate of preventing space wars by outlawing the deployment of weapons systems in orbit, Marshall predicts that cutting away at the possibility of staging thunderbolt attacks in terrestrial wars could suppress war-making in general.
—Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
In those days, watching a University of Alabama kicker trot out for a field goal was like looking up at the sky and seeing thunderbolts in the distance.
—Alec Lewis, The Athletic, 2 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for thunderbolt
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Cite this Entry
“Thunderbolt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thunderbolt. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
thunderbolt
noun
thun·der·bolt
ˈthən-dər-ˌbōlt
: a flash of lightning and the thunder that follows it
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