thume 
thumet, a. A Middle English form of thumbl. 
thumerstone (to'mer-ston), 11. [< G. Tlmnicr, 
< Tlnim, in Saxony, where it was found, + 
stone.] A mineral : same as axinite. 
thumite (to'mit), w. [< Tkum, in Saxony, + 
-ifc 2 .] Same as thumerstone. 
thumniel (thum'l), n, A dialectal form of thim- 
ble. 
thummie (thum'i), i. [Dim. of tltumb 1 .] The 
ehiffchaff, a bird, Phylloscopus rufiis. Compare 
thumb-bird. 
thummim (thum'im), n. pi. [LL. (Vulgate) 
transliteration of Heb. tummim, pi. of torn, per- 
fection, truth, < tdmam, perfect, be perfect.] 
See urim and thummim, under urim. 
thump (thump), v. [Not found in ME. ; appar. 
a var. of dump, < Icel. dumpa (once), thump, = 
Norw. dumpa, fall down suddenly, = Sw. dial. 
dumpa, make a noise, etc. : see dump%. Cf. 
Ilium."] I. trans. 1. To beat heavily, or with 
something thick and heavy. 
When so she lagged, as she needs mote so, 
He with his speare, that was to him great blame, 
Would thumpe her forward and inforce to goe. 
Spenser, . Q., VI. ii. 10. 
With these masqueraders that vast church is filled, 
who are seen thumping their breasts, and kissing the 
pavement with extreme devotion. Gray, Letters, I. 71. 
2f. To produce by a heavy blow or beating. 
When blustering Boreas . . . 
Thumps a thunder-bounce. 
Ford, Lover's Melancholy, i. 1. 
II. inlrans. To beat; give a thump or blow. 
As though my heart-strings had been cracked I wept 
and sighed, and thumped and thumped, and raved and 
randed and railed. 
DeMcr a>id Webster, Northward Ho, !v. 1. 
As he approached the stream, 1 1 is heart began to thump. 
In-ing, Sketch-Book, p. 448. 
thump (thump), n. [< thump, t'.] A heavy 
blow, or the sound made by such a blow; a 
blow with a club, the fist, or anything that 
gives a thick, heavy sound; a bang: as, to give 
one a thump. 
Long hair ... is, in peace, an ornament; in war, a 
strong helmet ; it blunts the edge of a sword, and deads 
the leaden thump of a bullet. 
DeMer, Gull's Hornbook, p. 89. 
The watchman's thump at midnight startles us in our 
beds as much as the breaking in of a thief. 
Addison, Spectator, No. 251. 
thumper (thum'per), H. [< thump + -ci' 1 .] 1. 
One who or that which thumps. 2. A thing or 
a person that is impressive by reason of huge- 
ness or greatness ; an unusually big fish, lie, 
etc. ; a whopper. [Colloq.] 
He cherished his friend, and he relished a bumper; 
Yet one fault he had, and that one was a thumper. 
Goldsmith, Ketaliation. 
thumping (thum'ping), p. a. [Ppr. of thump.] 
Unusually large or heavy ; big. [Colloq.] 
Let us console that martyr. I say, with thumping dam- 
ages; and as for the woman the guilty wretch! let us 
lead her out and stone her. Thackeray. 
thumpkin (thump'kin), H. [< thump (1) + -kin. 
Cf. thumbkin.'} 1. Alumpkin; a clown. [Prov. 
Eng.] 2. A barn of hay. [Thieves' slang.] 
Thunbergia (thun-ber'ji-li), u. [NL. (Linnieus 
films, 1781), named after K. P. Tliunberg, 1743- 
1828, a Swedish botanist, author of the "Flora 
Japonica " and " Flora Capensis."] A genus of 
gamopetalous plants, type of the tribe Thunber- 
f/ieie in the order Acanthacex. It is distinguished 
from Mendoncia, the other principal genus of its tribe, by 
its fruit, a beaked capsule with two to four seeds ; and from 
others of the order by its contorted and nearly equal 
corolla-lobes, and roundish seeds without a retinaculum. 
There are about 45 species, natives of tropical and south- 
ern Africa, Madagascar, and warm parts of Asia. They 
are commonly twining vines, or in a number of species low 
erect herbs. They bear opposite leaves, often triangular, 
hastate, cordate, or narrower, and purple, blue, yellow, or 
white flowers solitary in the axils or forming terminal ra- 
cemes. The flowers often combine two colors, as T. lau- 
rtfolia (T. Harris!), a greenhouse climber with large yel- 
low-throated blue flowers, and the hardy annual T. alata, 
known locally by the name black eyed- Swan from its buff, 
orange, or white flowers with a purplish-black center. 
Other species, as T. grandiflora, are favorite trellis-climb- 
ers, and commonly known by the generic name. 
thunder (thun'der), n. [< ME. thunder, thon- 
der, thondrc (with excrescent d as also in the 
D. form), earlier thoner, thuner (> E. dial, thun- 
ner), < AS. thunor (gen. thunres, thonrcs), thun- 
der (Tltunor, also, after Icel., Tliur, the god of 
thunder, Thor), = OS. Thuner, the god of thun- 
der, = OFries. thuner = D. donder = OHG. 
donar, MHG. doner, G. dormer, thunder (OHG. 
Donar, the god of thunder, Thor), = Icel. Thorr 
(dat. and ace. Thor, in Runic inscriptions also 
Thur), the god of thunder, Thor (cf . Icel. Thundr 
(gen. Thundur), one of the names of Odin 
appar. a reflex of the AS. or E. word), = Sw. 
6320 
Dan. Tor, the god of thunder, Thor (Sw. tor-don, 
Dan. tor-den, thunder: Sw. don (later d&n) = 
Dan. don = E. din), = Goth. "Manors (not re- 
corded) ; akin to L. tonitrus, rarely tonitru, toni- 
tritum, thunder, Skt. tanyatu, thunder, tanayit- 
nus, roaring, thundering; from a verb shown in 
AS. thunian, rattle, roar, thunder, L. tonare, 
roar, thunder (cf . AS. toman (rare), MD. donen, 
thunder), Skt. / tan r roar. This root is usu- 
ally identified with that of AS. thynne, E. thin, 
etc. (see thin 1 ), the development being various- 
ly explained: e. g., 'extension, sound, noise, 
thunder.' But the two are no doubt entirely 
distinct: the sense 'tone' in Gr. rowf is devel- 
oped from that of 'tension' in quite another 
way. The -\/ tan, thunder, is perhaps the same, 
without the initial s, as the i/ Stan , in Gr. crevuv 
= Lith. steneti = Russ. stenati, stonate, groan, = 
Skt. <!/ stan, roar, thunder, E. stun, etc. (a simi- 
lar double root in st- and t- is shown in the etym. 
of thatch and other words : see stun). Hence 
thunder, v., and the first element of Thursday, 
and, from the Scand., Thor.} 1. The loud noise 
which follows a flash of lightning, due to the 
sudden disturbance of the air by a violent dis- 
charge of electricity through it. The character of 
the sound varies with the force and the distance of the 
discharge, the form, number, and relative arrangement 
of the clouds, and the nature of the surrounding country. 
The position of the observer relative to the path of the 
discharge has also an important influence on the charac- 
ter of the sound heard. If the observer is about equally 
distant from the two bodies between which the discharge 
takes place, the sound is short and sharp, while if his po- 
sition is approximately in line with the path of discharge, 
so as to be considerably further from one body than the 
other, the sound is prolonged into a long roll, due to the 
difference of time which the sound takes to reach the ear 
from the different parts of the path. In hilly regions, and 
where there are many clouds in the neighborhood of the 
discharge, the sound is echoed and reechoed, causing a 
prolonged and more or less continuous roar. As sound 
travels at the rate of about 1,100 feet per second, and light 
at the rate of about 186,000 miles per second, the number 
of miles the observer is from the discharge will be nearly 
one fifth the number of seconds which elapse between 
seeing the flash and hearing the sound. Discharges be- 
tween clouds high up in the atmosphere are not usually 
heard through so long distances as might be expected, 
owing to the diminution of the intensity of sounds in 
passing from rarer to denser media. Discharges from 
clouds near the earth's surface to the earth can be heard 
as far as any other sound of equal intensity. 
No thunders shook with deep intestine sound 
The blooming groves that girdled her around. 
Cowper, Heroism, I. 5. 
2. The destructive agent in a thunder-storm ; a 
discharge of lightning; a thunderbolt. 
And therfore hathe White Thorn many Vertues : For he 
that berethe a Brannche on him thereotfe, no Thondre ne 
no maner of Tempest may dere him. 
Mandev&lt, Travels, p. 13. 
I told him, the revenging gods 
'Gainst parricides did all their thunders bend. 
Shak., Lear, ii. 1. 48. 
lly the gods, my heart speaks this ; 
And if the least fall from me not perform 'd, 
May I be struck with thunder '. 
Beau, and Fl., Philaster, v. 3. 
3. Any loud resounding noise : as, thunders of 
applause. 
The thunder of my cannon shall be heard. 
Shot., K. John, i. 1. 26. 
Welcome her, thunders of fort and of fleet ! 
Tennyson, Welcome to Alexandra. 
4. An awful or startling denunciation or threat. 
The thunders of the Vatican could no longer strike ter- 
ror into the heart of princes, as in the days of the Cru- 
sades. 1'rescott. 
5. As an exclamation, an abbreviation of by 
thunder, a mild oath. Compare thunderation. 
[Colloq.] Blood-and-thunder, sensational; full of 
bloody deeds and bravado : noting plays, novels, etc. [Col- 
loq. ] Cross of thunder. See crossi. 
thunder (thun'der), v. [< ME. thundercn, thon- 
deren, thuneren, thoneren (> E. dial, thumier), < 
AS. tlitmrian = D. donderen = OHG. donaron, 
MHG. donren, MG. dunren, G. donnern = Sw. 
dundra = Da,Ti. dundre, thunder; from the noun.] 
1. in trans. 1. To give forth thunder; resound 
with thunder; formerly, to lighten (and thun- 
der): often used impersonally: as, it thundered 
yesterday. 
Wednesday, the vj Day of Januarii, the wynde Rose 
a yens vs, with grett tempest, thonnderyny and lyghtnyng 
all Day and all nyght, So owtrageowsly that we knew not 
wher wee war. Torkinyton, Diane of Eng. Travel!, p. 60. 
He would not flatter Neptune for his trident 
Or Jove for 's power to thunder. 
Shak., Cor., iii. 1. 256. 
2. To make a sound resembling thunder; make 
a loud noise, particularly a heavy sound of some 
continuance. 
Canst thou thunder with a voice like him ? Job xl. 9. 
Ay me, what act 
That roars so loud, and thunders in the index? 
Shak., Hamlet, iii. 4. 52. 
thunderbolt 
His dreadful voice no more 
Would thunder in my ears. Miltvn, P. L., x. 780. 
I will have his head, were Richard thundering at the 
gates of York. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxxiv. 
3. To utter loud denunciations or threats. 
The orators on the other side thundered against sinful 
associations. Macaltlay, Hist. Eng., xiii. 
The Thundering Legion. See legion. 
II. trans. 1. To emit with or as with the 
noise of thunder; utter with a loud and threat- 
ening voice ; utter or issue by way of threat 
or denunciation. 
Oracles severe 
Were daily thunder'd in our gen'ral's ear. 
Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., xiii. 293. 
Should eighty-thousand college-councils 
Thunder "Anathema," friend, at you. 
Tennyson, To Rev. F. D. Maurice. 
2. To lay on with vehemence. [Rare.] 
Therewith they gan, both furious and fell, 
To thunder blowes, and flersly to assaile 
Each other. Spenser, F. Q., I. vi. 43. 
thunder-and-lightning (thun ' der- and -lit '- 
ning), n. Same as Oxford mixture (which see, 
under mixture). [Colloq.] Thunder-and-light- 
ning snake. See snake. 
thunderation (thun-der-a'shon), n. Same as 
thunder, 5. [Colloq., U. S.] 
thunder-ax (thun'der-aks), n. Same as thun- 
derbolt, 3 (a). 
thunderbeatt (thun'der-bet), v. t. [< thunder 
+ beat 1 .] To beat with thundering strokes. 
[Rare.] 
So he them thunderbet whereso he went, 
That neuer a stroke in vaine his right hand spent. 
Hudson., tr. of Du Bartas's Judith, v. 397. (Davits.) 
thunder-bird (thun'der-berd), n. 1. An Aus- 
tralian thick-headed shrike, Pachycephala gut- 
turalis. It is about 6 inches long, rich-yellow below, 
with a jet-black collar and white throat, black head, and 
partly black tail. It was called by Latham ijuttural thrush, 
Turdus yutturalw, and black-breastfd Jit/catcher, Muscicapa 
pectoralis, by others white-throated thickhead, and it has 
also a variety of French and New Latin names. It closely 
resembles the species figured under Pachycephala. 
2. In the mythology of some low tribes, an 
imaginary bird supposed to cause thunder by 
the flapping of its wings, or considered as per- 
sonifying it. E. U. Tylor. 
thunderblast (thun'der-blast), H. [< ME. thon- 
derblast; < thunder + blast.} A peal of thunder. 
thunderbolt (thun'der-bolt), n. [< thunder + 
bolt 1 .] 1. A flash of lightning with the accom- 
panying crash of thunder: so called because re- 
garded as due to the hurling of a bolt or shaft at 
the object struck by the lightning. See def. 2. 
The term thunderbolt, which is nowadays rarely used ex- 
cept by poets (and by the penny-a-liners), preserves the 
old notion that something solid and intensely hot passed 
along the track of a lightning flash and buried itself in the 
ground. P. G. Tait, Encyc. Brit., XXIII. 330. 
2. The imaginary bolt or shaft (often e- 
garded as a stone) conceived as the material 
agent or substance of a flash of lightning, and 
the cause of the accompanying crash of thun- 
der: an attribute of Zeus or Jupiter as the 
god of thunder (Jupiter Tonans) ; specifically, 
in her., a bearing representing a thunderbolt 
more or less like 
that of Jupiter, it 
is often composed of 
barbed lances, the shafts 
of which are broken into 
dovetails, and a group 
of these put side by side, 
having a pair of wings 
attached, is emblematic 
of radiating light; some- 
times it is a double flame 
of fire pointing up and 
down and accompanied 
with lances, radiating 
blades, etc. 
3. A stone or other 
hard concretion of 
distinctive shape, 
usually tapering or 
spear-like, found in 
the ground, and sup- 
posed in popular su- 
Jupiter holding a Thunderbolt. 
(From a Pompeian wall-painting.) 
perstition to have 
been the material substance of a thunderbolt 
(in sense 2), and to have fallen from heaven 
with the lightning. Specifically () One of various 
polished stone implements, celts, and the like, found in 
the ground, supposed to have fallen from the sky. Also 
called thunder-ax, thunder-hammer, thunder-stone, ccrau- 
nia, and Sturm-stone. (&) A mass of iron pyrites occnrrini;. 
either as a nodule or a bunch of crystals, in the chalk of 
England, (e) One of sundry fossil cephalopoda, as belem- 
nites. Also called thunder-stone. See cut under bclemnite. 
4. Figuratively, one who is daring or irresisti- 
ble ; one who acts with fury or with sudden and 
resistless force. 
