storm
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /stɔːm/
ipa: /stɔɹm/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)m
Forms: form: storms
form: storming
form: stormed
form: stormed
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: storm
form: storm
form: stormed
form: storm
form: stormest
form: stormed
form: stormedst
form: storms
form: stormeth
form: stormed
form: storm
form: stormed
form: storm
form: stormed
form: storm
form: -
form: storming
form: stormed
Etymology: 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”)
Senses: examples: text: It stormed throughout the night.
text: Throughout the night it stormed violently—rain, hail, snow, and sleet beating upon the vessel—the wind continuing ahead, and the sea running high.
ref: 1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., chapter V, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC, page 34:
text: We all like to see people seasick when we are not, ourselves. Playing whist by the cabin lamps when it is storming outside, is pleasant; walking the quarter-deck in the moonlight, is pleasant; […] but these are all feeble and commonplace compared with the joy of seeing people suffering the miseries of seasickness.
ref: 1869, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter III, in The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims’ Progress; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company. […], →OCLC, page 35:
glosses: Preceded by the dummy subject it: to have strong winds and usually lightning and thunder, and/or hail, rain, or snow.
examples: text: And dovvne I laid to liſt the ſad tun'd tale, / Ere long eſpied a fickle maid full pale / Tearing of papers breaking rings a tvvaine, / Storming her vvorld vvith ſorrovves, vvind and raine.
ref: 1609, William Shakespeare, “A Louers Complaint”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC, signature K, verso:
text: Meantime, our simulated thunderclaps / Which tell us counterfeited truths—these same / Are—sound, when music storms the soul, perhaps?
ref: 1878, Robert Browning, “The Two Poets of Croisic”, in La Saisiaz: The Two Poets of Croisic, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, stanza 64, page 127:
text: The driver turned in the saddle to see if there were any chance of capturing the revolver and ending the ride. Dick roused, struck him over the head with the butt, and stormed himself wide awake.
ref: 1891 January, Rudyard Kipling, chapter XV, in The Light that Failed, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published March 1891, →OCLC, pages 334–335:
glosses: To make (someone or something) stormy; to agitate (someone or something) violently.
synonyms: word: aggravate
word: annoy
word: rankle
word: ruffle
word: sting
word: antagonize
word: bother
word: disgruntle
word: botherate
word: bug
word: get
word: grate
word: burn up
word: bedevil
word: cheese off
word: devil
word: exasperate
word: frustrate
word: get up
word: grotch
word: hack off
word: hassle
word: irk
word: irritate
word: jazz
word: molest
word: mommick
word: nark
word: nerve
word: pee off
word: peeve
word: persecute
word: pique
word: piss off
word: provoke
word: rile
word: rile up
word: roil
word: storm
word: test someone's patience
word: tick off
word: trouble
word: try one's patience
word: vex
word: wind up
word: Idioms:
word: boil someone's piss
word: chap someone's hide
word: get on someone's nerves
word: get on someone's tits
word: get on someone's wick
word: get someone's back up
word: get someone's dander up
word: get someone's goat
word: get someone's Irish up
word: get someone's nanny
word: get someone's nanny-goat
word: get under one's goat
word: get under someone's skin
word: give someone the shits
word: grind one's gears
word: harsh one's mellow
word: put someone's back up
word: raise someone's hackles
word: rub someone the wrong way
word: rub up the wrong way
word: ruffle someone's feathers
word: tee off
word: torque off
glosses: To disturb or trouble (someone).
glosses: To use (harsh language).
examples: text: the storming of the Bastille
text: Troops stormed the complex.
text: All night beneath hard heavy arms to vvatch; / All day to mount the trench, to ſtorm the breach; […]
ref: 1692 (date written), Matthew Prior, “Ode; in Imitation of Horace, 3 Od. ii.”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior […], volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan, […], published 1779, →OCLC, stanza II, page 112:
text: The assailants were repulsed in their first attack, and several of their bravest officers were shot down in the act of storming the fortress, sword in hand.
ref: 1820 July, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Philip of Pokanoket. An Indian Memoir.”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., 1st UK edition, volume II, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, pages 259–260:
text: 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.
ref: 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:
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: To violently assault (a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.) with the aim of gaining control of it.
examples: text: No Engines can a Tyrant find, / to ſtorm the Truth-ſupported Mind, […]
ref: 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:
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: To violently assault (a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.) with the aim of gaining control of it.
To assault or gain control or power over (someone's heart, mind, etc.).
examples: text: They were storming near the end of the month to salvage some goodwill.
glosses: To catch up (on production output) by making frenzied or herculean efforts.
raw_tags: in command economies
topics: agriculture
business
lifestyle
glosses: To protect (seed-hay) from stormy weather by putting sheaves of them into small stacks.
examples: text: My harueſte haſts to ſtirre vp winter ſterne, / And bids him clayme with rigorous rage hys right. / So nowe he ſtormes with many a ſturdy ſtoure, / So now his bluſtring blaſt eche coſte doth ſcoure.
ref: 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “December. Ægloga Duodecima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 50, verso:
text: [H]e, whose bow thus storm'd / For our offences, may be calm'd.
ref: [1611?], Homer, “Book I”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume I, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC, pages 30–31:
text: From Shetland ſtradling vvide, his [Boreas's] foote on Thuly ſets: / VVhence ſtorming, all the vaſt Deucalidon hee threts, / And beares his boyſtrous vvaues into the narrovver mouth / Of the Verginian Sea: […]
ref: 1612, Michael Drayton, “The Tenth Song”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes] for M[athew] Lownes; I[ohn] Browne; I[ohn] Helme; I[ohn] Busbie, →OCLC, page 159:
text: [A]fter a ſhort calm vve obſerved the Ocean firſt to ferment and heave, and then to vvrinkle her ſmooth face, and veering into a contrary romp at length to pull and bluſter, yea next day to ſtorm ſo outrageouſly, that the Sea men themſelves to my apprehenſion, had ſome fear, […]
ref: 1677, Tho[mas] Herbert, Some Yeares Travels into Divers Parts of Africa, and Asia the Great. […], 4th edition, London: […] R. Everingham, for R. Scot, T. Basset, J[ohn] Wright, and R. Chiswell, →OCLC, page 11:
glosses: Of the weather: to be violent, with strong winds and usually lightning and thunder, and/or hail, rain, or snow.
glosses: To be exposed to harsh (especially cold) weather.
examples: text: She stormed out of the room.
text: Then the music touch'd the gates and died; / Rose again from where it seem'd to fail, / Storm'd in orbs of song, a growing gale; […]
ref: 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Vision of Sin”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 214:
text: Storm'd at with shot and shell, / Boldly they rode and well; / Into the jaws of Death, / Into the mouth of Hell, / Rode the six hundred.
ref: 1855, Alfred Tennyson, “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, in Maud, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza 2, page 152:
text: 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.
ref: 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:
glosses: To move noisily and quickly like a storm (noun sense 1), usually in a state of anger or uproar.
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: To move quickly in the course of an assault on a fortified position or stronghold, a building, etc.
examples: text: [T]he prieſts of the countrey cluſtering togither, began to grudge and ſtorme againſt Tindall [William Tyndale], rauing againſt him in alehouſes and other places.
ref: 1610 October, John Foxe, “The Life and Storie of the True Seruant and Martyr of God William Tindall: Who for His Notable Paines and Trauell may Well bee Called the Apostle of England in This our Latter Age”, in The Second Volume of the Ecclesiasticall Historie, Containing the Acts and Monuments of Martyrs, […], 6th edition, volume II, London: […] [Humphrey Lownes] for the Company of Stationers, →OCLC, book VIII, page 982, column 1:
text: VVhy looke you hovv you ſtorme, / I vvould be friends vvith you, and haue your loue, / Forget the ſhames that you haue ſtain'd me vvith, […]
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
text: O Father, storm'st thou not / To see us take these wrongs from men?
ref: [1611?], Homer, “Book V”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume I, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC, page 145:
text: It often happens, that servants sent on messages are apt to stay out somewhat longer than the message requires, […] when you return, the master storms, the lady scolds; stripping, cudgelling, and turning off is the word. But here you ought to be provided with a set of excuses, enough to serve on all occasions: […]
ref: 1731 (date written, published 1745), Jonathan Swift, “[Directions to Servants.] Rules that Concern All Servants in General.”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume XVI, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 102:
text: Bleſs me! ſhe curſes and ſtorms at me like a Trooper, and can hardly keep her Hands off me.
ref: 1741, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXI. [Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the 32d, 33d, and 34th Days of My Imprisonment].”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], 3rd edition, volume I, London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […]; and J. Osborn, […], →OCLC, page 239:
text: I shall offer to pay him to-morrow; he will rant and storm about his love for you, and there will be an end of the matter.
ref: 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XVII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 299:
text: I know the Pacha's haughty mood / To thee hath never boded good; / And he so often storms at nought, / Allah! forbid that e'er he ought!
ref: 1813 December 2 (date written), Lord Byron, “Canto I. Stanza XIII.”, in The Bride of Abydos. A Turkish Tale, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], for John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 22, lines 439–442:
text: I do not want to storm at the man who made her life so burdensome. Too many years have passed for that, nor would Nanny take it kindly if I called her man names.
ref: 1889, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, “The Tragedy of a Wife”, in A Window in Thrums, London: Hodder and Stoughton, […], →OCLC, page 108:
glosses: To be in a violent temper; to use harsh language; to fume, to rage.
Derived terms: word: barnstorm
word: bestorm
word: outstorm
word: stormable
word: stormed
word: stormer
word: storm in
word: storming
word: storm off
word: storm out
word: storm out of the blocks
word: yarnstorm