Other forms: thunderclaps
A thunderclap is one single crash of sound from a storm. A sudden thunderclap, the thunderclap woke him, like a thunderclap.
It is the sharp crack rather than the long rumble — the crack is the nearest part of the lightning channel and the rumble is the rest arriving later. Figuratively it means a sudden shock: the news came like a thunderclap. In medicine, a thunderclap headache is a sudden severe one and is a medical emergency.
1nounthunderclapOne single crash of sound from a storm.
“A sudden thunderclap made the children scream and the dog hide under the bed.”
thunderclap is a sound of thunder.
Thunder plus clap, a plain compound. Thunder comes from Old English thunor, the same word as the god Thor's name.
From thunder + clap.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA