Cloud \Cloud\ (kloud), n. [Prob. fr. AS. cl[=u]d a rock or hillock, the application arising from the frequent resemblance of clouds to rocks or hillocks in the sky or air.] 1. A collection of visible vapor, or watery particles, suspended in the upper atmosphere.
I do set my bow in the cloud. --Gen. ix. 13.
Note: A classification of clouds according to their chief forms was first proposed by the meteorologist Howard, and this is still substantially employed. The following varieties and subvarieties are recognized: (a) {Cirrus}. This is the most elevated of all the forms of clouds; is thin, long-drawn, sometimes looking like carded wool or hair, sometimes like a brush or room, sometimes in curl-like or fleecelike patches. It is the cat's-tail of the sailor, and the mare's-tail of the landsman. (b) {Cumulus}. This form appears in large masses of a hemispherical form, or nearly so, above, but flat below, one often piled above another, forming great clouds, common in the summer, and presenting the appearance of gigantic mountains crowned with snow. It often affords rain and thunder gusts. (c) {Stratus}. This form appears in layers or bands extending horizontally. (d) {Nimbus}. This form is characterized by its uniform gray tint and ragged edges; it covers the sky in seasons of continued rain, as in easterly storms, and is the proper rain cloud. The name is sometimes used to denote a raining cumulus, or cumulostratus. (e) {Cirro-cumulus}. This form consists, like the cirrus, of thin, broken, fleecelice clouds, but the parts are more or less rounded and regulary grouped. It is popularly called mackerel sky. (f) {Cirro-stratus}. In this form the patches of cirrus coalesce in long strata, between cirrus and stratus. (g) {Cumulo-stratus}. A form between cumulus and stratus, often assuming at the horizon a black or bluish tint. -- {Fog}, cloud, motionless, or nearly so, lying near or in contact with the earth's surface. -- {Storm scud}, cloud lying quite low, without form, and driven rapidly with the wind.
2. A mass or volume of smoke, or flying dust, resembling vapor. ``A thick cloud of incense.'' --Ezek. viii. 11.
3. A dark vein or spot on a lighter material, as in marble; hence, a blemish or defect; as, a cloud upon one's reputation; a cloud on a title.
4. That which has a dark, lowering, or threatening aspect; that which temporarily overshadows, obscures, or depresses; as, a cloud of sorrow; a cloud of war; a cloud upon the intellect.
5. A great crowd or multitude; a vast collection. ``So great a cloud of witnesses.'' --Heb. xii. 1.
6. A large, loosely-knitted scarf, worn by women about the head.
{Cloud on a} (or the) {title} (Law), a defect of title, usually superficial and capable of removal by release, decision in equity, or legislation.
{To be under a cloud}, to be under suspicion or in disgrace; to be in disfavor.
{In the clouds}, in the realm of facy and imagination; beyond reason; visionary.
Cloud \Cloud\ (kloud), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Clouded}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Clouding}.] 1. To overspread or hide with a cloud or clouds; as, the sky is clouded.
2. To darken or obscure, as if by hiding or enveloping with a cloud; hence, to render gloomy or sullen.
One day too late, I fear me, noble lord, Hath clouded all thy happy days on earth. --Shak.
Be not disheartened, then, nor cloud those looks. --Milton.
Nothing clouds men's minds and impairs their honesty like prejudice. --M. Arnold.
3. To blacken; to sully; to stain; to tarnish; to damage; -- esp. used of reputation or character.
I would not be a stander-by to hear My sovereign mistress clouded so, without My present vengeance taken. --Shak.
4. To mark with, or darken in, veins or sports; to variegate with colors; as, to cloud yarn.
And the nice conduct of a clouded cane. --Pope.
Cloud \Cloud\, v. i. To grow cloudy; to become obscure with clouds; -- often used with up.
Worthies, away! The scene begins to cloud. --Shak.
"We could see whole lines of trees exploding," said Marc Anthony, a state game and parks commissioner who flew over the fire. A mushroom cloud of smoke could be seen from Scottsbluff about 90 miles away.
A funnel cloud becomes a tornado once it touches the ground.
Every play kicked up a cloud of dust, and the women panted and puffed in the 90-degree heat.
The official quoted Nakayama as reiterating the Japanese position that these trade issues would be discussed, but not under the cloud of threatened U.S. sanctions.
The expert came, installed a new lock, relieved my father of $150, and the family drove out of town a day late in a cloud of steam.
He chose not to cloud his vision and judgment."
Police and witnesses said the funnel cloud then skipped across the river and damaged a dozen houses in Camden, N.J. The weather service said it had not investigated the Camden damage and could not confirm a tornado there.
Nomura produced its second downgrade in a week and turned cautious on the stock, arguing that the food distribution arm - the most significant contributor to Booker's profits - would continue under a cloud for the remainder of the year.
The blast released a cloud of ammonia that passed over the republic, but officials said that outside the area of the explosion no evacuations were necessary.
The cloud of suspicion cannot be dispelled quickly. Meanwhile there is now open war between Mr Berlusconi and the Milan magistrates.
The silver lining in the dark cloud will be that inflation remains docile, Mr. Berner says.
The fire sent up a noxious cloud of gas over the city.
OSHA's investigation into the Texas blast showed that four highly flammable gases escaped from an open valve, forming a huge vapor cloud that traveled through the plant within seconds under high pressure.
One cloud on the horizon in the eastern states is increasing price competition.
Then the auto paint shop fire sent an evil-looking cloud of black smoke into the air.
With the securities industry under a cloud because of the widening insider-trading scandal, the stock market might prove to be a popular target for a tax increase.
He's floating on a cloud.
Out of a cloud of smoke steps not a Vanna clone, but soul singer James Brown in a red sequined suit.
If the budget summit's dark cloud has a silver lining, it is this: It now should be apparent to everyone that tax increases are not the answer to deficit spending.
The two-minute test will burn approximately 1.1 million pounds of solid fuel propellant, sending a cloud of smoke and flame thousands of feet into the sky.
The blast spewed cesium, strontium and plutonium across much of the Ukraine, Byelorussia and Russia and sent a cloud of radioactive gas around the world.
He added that although U.S. companies are likely to show increased profitability this year and the next because of restructuring, nonrecurring write-offs such as those at the major banks and Procter & Gamble will cloud this improved profitability.
A mysterious cloud was first spotted over the Soviet Union on May 26 and was moving towards Finland, according to Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Authority.
He was re-elected in 1986, but lost in 1988 to Democrat Ben Jones while under the cloud of his perjury indictment.
But the underlying pressure on both nominal and real interest rates worldwide can be traced to two doubts that did not cloud the picture in the early 20th century.
Those values won't be realized overnight, but they suggest that if the asbestos cloud does abate, Fibreboard's stock, currently trading at 9 7/8, could become much more valuable.
"We were a few aisles away, we heard a loud muffled explosion, like a large balloon exploding," Profeta said. "Then we saw a cloud of smoke and flaming debris shoot up in the air.
The artisans are embroiled in a festering patent dispute that has brought with it unsavory trappings of big-city competitiveness and a lingering cloud of malice that sits uneasily in a place that trades so on its tranquility.
The cloud threatened a railway station and two small villages, so the helicopter crew decided to detonate it, Pravda said. "For many kilometers, it became as light as in broad daylight," it said.
Inchcape lost 5 to 585p. Food retailers remained under a cloud as analysts waited for what are seen as extremely important results from Tesco today.