thunderbolt
/ˈθʌndə(ɹ)ˌboʊlt/ noun B2- A flash of lightning accompanied by a crash of thunder.
- An event that is terrible, horrific or unexpected. · News of the actress’s death came as a thunderbolt to her fans.
- Vehement threatening or censure; especially, ecclesiastical denunciation; fulmination.
- A very powerful shot.
- A belemnite, or thunderstone.
- A charge in the form of two joined bundles with four rays of lightning emerging from them, resembling the thunderbolt of Jupiter.
- A daring or irresistible hero.
Plural thunderbolts
From the library
“To Monsieur Noirtier, Rue Coq-Héron, Paris.” Had a thunderbolt fallen into the room, Villefort could not have been more stupefied.
Had a thunderbolt fallen at the feet of Dantès, or hell opened its yawning gulf before him, he could not have been more completely transfixed with horror than he was at the sound of these unexpected words.
Madame de Villefort, who was in very good spirits, would neither believe nor think of the misfortune, but Mademoiselle Valentine, at the first words, guessed the whole truth, notwithstanding all the precautions of her father; the blow struck her like a thunderbolt, and she fell senseless.”
de Villefort, is a poison that the prisoner is not acquainted with,—one that has no known antidote, quick as thought, rapid as lightning, mortal as the thunderbolt; give her that poison, recommending her soul to God, and save your honor and your life, for it is yours she aims at; and I can picture her approaching your pillow with her hypocritical smiles and her sweet exhortations.
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