thunderbolt

English

Etymology

thunder +‎ bolt

Noun

thunderbolt (plural thunderbolts)

  1. A flash of lightning accompanied by an instant crash of thunder.
  2. (figuratively) An event that is terrible, horrific or unexpected.
    • Dryden
      the Scipios' worth, those thunderbolts of war
  3. Vehement threatening or censure; especially, ecclesiastical denunciation; fulmination.
    • Hakewill
      He severely threatens such with the thunderbolt of excommunication.
  4. (soccer) A very powerful shot.
    • 2011 February 5, Michael Kevin Darling, “Tottenham 2 - 1 Bolton”, in BBC‎:
      Substitute Niko Kranjcar's injury-time thunderbolt gave Tottenham a dramatic win over Bolton.
  5. (paleontology) A belemnite, or thunderstone.
  6. (heraldry) A charge in the form of two joined bundles with four rays of lightning emerging from them, resembling the thunderbolt of Jupiter.

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