storm

storm¹ W3 [sto:m US sto:rm] n

[: Old English;]

1.)

a period of very bad weather when there is a lot of rain or snow, strong winds, and often ↑lightning

▪ The storm broke (=suddenly started) at five o'clock.

▪ a night-time thunderstorm

▪ Twenty people were killed when storms struck the Mid-West.

▪ There's a storm brewing (=starting) in the Pacific.

▪ a dust storm

▪ a summer storm

2.) [C usually singular]

a situation in which people suddenly express very strong feelings about something that someone has said or done

▪ The governor found himself at the center of a political storm .

storm of protest/abuse/criticism etc

▪ Government plans for hospital closures provoked a storm of protest.

whip/blow/kick etc up a storm

▪ a man would could whip up a storm in her heart

3.) take somewhere by storm

a) to be very successful in a particular place

▪ The new show took London by storm.

b) to attack a place using large numbers of soldiers, and succeed in getting possession of it

4.) weather the storm

to experience a difficult period and reach the end of it without being harmed or damaged too much

▪ I'll stay and weather the storm.

5.) a storm in a teacup

BrE an unnecessary expression of strong feelings about something that is very unimportant

6.) dance/sing/cook etc up a storm

to do something with all your energy

▪ They were dancing up a storm.

storm ²

storm² v

1.) [T]

to suddenly attack and enter a place using a lot of force

▪ An angry crowd stormed the embassy.

2.) [I always + adverb/preposition]

to go somewhere in a noisy fast way that shows you are extremely angry

storm out of/into/off etc

▪ Alan stormed out of the room.

3.) [I and T] literary

to shout something in an angry way

▪ 'What difference does it make?' she stormed.