like thunder
4
4.7
- idiom
:
como un rayo
- His mouth took from hers until the blood pounded like thunder in her head.
- hit me like thunder
- came like thunder
- roar like thunder
Examples
-
The storm approached, and the wind howled like thunder through the trees.
-
The sun came up like thunder here, and Sarah made sure she woke up in time to see it.
Fiction book (1999) -
Then my brave boy took off like thunder across the prairie.
Fiction book (1997) -
His dog was going sixty miles an hour and barking like thunder as he raced toward Morris.
Fiction book (1999) -
The vampires bellow out a chorus of cheers, their voices resonating off the stone walls like thunder.
Fiction book (1998) -
He ran down the track like thunder, leaving his competitors far behind.
-
The car sped by like thunder, startling everyone on the busy street.
Synonyms
446
1.4
In a very short time
86
7.8
With a lot of energy and very quickly
75
7.9
Happening very quickly, with great effort or very strongly
13
8.1
Act very quickly and with great effort
12
5.6
In a very strong and angry way
8
8.2
Very quickly and with great energy
6
8.1
Very quickly and with great success
5
4.4
To do something very suddenly and with great force
2
3.7
In a very strong and violent way
2
5.1
In a very loud and powerful way like thunder
1
9.2
To do something very quickly or with great effort
1
7.2
In a very loud and excited way
1
8.0
In a very quick way, like someone running fast
Acts very quickly and with great force
In a very loud and powerful way
In a very fast way that happens almost instantly
Antonyms
How Fast
Surface Forms
Morphology
The simile marker 'like' plus 'thunder' makes a clear figurative comparison: learners who know 'thunder' can plausibly infer loudness, force, or intensity, so part of the meaning is recoverable. However, mapping thunder onto "very quickly" is less direct (thunder evokes power and noise more than speed), so the precise nuance is metaphorical and not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Like thunder comes from the image of thunder, a sudden, very loud sound that comes quickly and with great force. So when something happens like thunder, it means it happens 'very quickly' or 'with great force'.