mother of all storms
1
7.7
- noun
- Informal
:
madre de todas las tormentas
- The hurricane was labeled the mother of all storms due to its unprecedented intensity and widespread impact.
Examples
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"Home loan defaults are just the first raindrop in the mother of all storms."
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"This is the mother of all storms," said one harried firefighter who answered the phone at a station in lower Manhattan when Capitol Hill Blue called early Tuesday.
Blog text (31) -
The meteorologist warned that a mother of all storms was approaching the coast, bringing heavy rain and strong winds.
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Residents prepared their homes as the forecast predicted the mother of all storms would hit the area later tonight.
Synonyms
29
5.5
A very large, powerful storm that causes widespread damage or a very serious situation with many problems
19
6.0
A situation in which several bad things happen at the same time and make things much worse
4
8.9
A very large and powerful storm that happens when different bad storms join together
An extremely violent storm that causes widespread damage and destruction
Antonyms
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase uses a metaphorical intensifier 'mother of all ...' to mean 'the biggest/most extreme' instance; knowing 'mother', 'of', 'all' and 'storm' gives a plausible inference of an extreme storm but not a literal maternal relation. This is a partly transparent, conventionalized metaphorical pattern (an idiomatic intensifier) that a B1 learner might not fully predict without prior exposure, so it is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
Mother of all storms uses mother to show the biggest or most powerful example of something, so you imagine one storm that is larger and stronger than all the rest. That's why it means 'a very severe or extreme storm'.