Meaning of cloud in English

cloud

noun

/klaʊd/ us

/klaʊd/

cloud noun (IN SKY)

Add to word list Add to word list

A2 [ C ]

(UK also cloud [ U ])

a grey or white mass in the sky, made up of very small floating drops of water:

rain cloud Do you think those are rain clouds on the horizon?

The sky was a perfect blue - not a cloud in sight.

Dark clouds massed on the horizon.

UK There was so much cloud, we couldn't see anything.

Adél Békefi/Moment/GettyImages

More examplesFewer examples

A cloud passed over the sun.
A dark bank of cloud loomed on the horizon.
He puffed a cloud of cigarette smoke into my eyes.
The volcano spewed a giant cloud of ash, dust and gases into the air.
The sun disappeared behind heavy clouds.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Precipitation: clouds, dew, fog & steam

See more results »

cloud noun (MASS)

B2 [ C ]

a mass of something such as dust or smoke that looks like a cloud:

cloud of On the eastern horizon, a huge cloud of smoke from burning oil tanks stretched across the sky.

The initial cloud of tear gas had hardly cleared before shots were fired.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Masses and large amounts of things

See more results »

cloud noun (COMPUTING)

the cloud [ S ]

a computer network where files and programs can be stored, especially the internet:

All the photographs are kept on the cloud rather than on hard drives.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Computer concepts

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Internet terminology

Idioms

be on cloud nine
be under a cloud
a cloud hanging over someone
a cloud on the horizon
a dark cloud
every cloud has a silver lining

cloud

verb

/klaʊd/ us

/klaʊd/

[ I or T ]

If something transparent clouds, or if something clouds it, it becomes difficult to see through.

C2 [ T ]

to make someone confused, or make something more difficult to understand:

cloud someone's memory When it came to explaining the lipstick on his collar, he found that drink had clouded (= confused) his memory.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Precipitation: clouds, dew, fog & steam

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Puzzle and confuse

Phrasal verb

cloud over

(Definition of cloud from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

cloud | American Dictionary

cloud

noun [ C/U ]

/klɑʊd/

Add to word list Add to word list

a white or gray mass of very small drops of water or ice that float in the sky:

[ C ] Those dark clouds look like we’re going to get some rain.

A cloud is also a mass of something, such as dust or smoke, that moves together:

The distant cloud of dust in the valley announced the approach of a car.

A cloud is also something which causes sadness or fear:

[ C ] After the diagnosis of cancer, she lived under a cloud.

cloud

verb [ T ]

/klɑʊd/

to fill with clouds or with something that looks like a cloud:

[ T ] Smoke clouded the sky.

If something clouds a situation or feeling, it makes it less clear:

The fact that Jack was an old friend clouded her judgment.

Phrasal verb

cloud over/up

(Definition of cloud from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of cloud

cloud

The wasps rarely appeared before the sun reached the ant nest and would retreat when clouds blocked the sun or the nest was shaded.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The aim of our studies was to examine turbulent, wavy structures in noctilucent clouds taking into account the clouds dusty plasma nature.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

However, the dusty plasma nature of noctilucent clouds has been neglected.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A specific feature observed in noctilucent clouds is wavy, turbulent structure.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Large-scale magnetic fields are also detected in molecular clouds.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

However, this interpretation is clouded because of saving heterogeneity across the population.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The uniform whitishgrey appearance of fog and clouds is due to light scattering by a high density of very small droplets.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Although the years may have clouded his memory, this eccentric man had certainly lost none of his conviction.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Here she loaded 9200 tonnes of coal, amidst clouds of coal dust that penetrated everywhere, leaving a black film over every surface.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

I remember your dance and the veil of mist and fog which merged with the clouds above.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The asteroid belt is represented visually by clouds of space debris - percussive sounds in the music.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Their roofs contain and project like clouds over the earth, keenly symbolic and showing relative status in subtle ways.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Score, infinitely pliable, can manipulate and metamorphose, clouding lines of functional demarcation - even emulating source.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The origins of spoken motherese are as clouded with mystery as are the origins of speech.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The laboratory results may be related to the behaviour of marine stratocumulus clouds.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of cloud

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with cloud

cloud

These are words often used in combination with cloud.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

cloud deck

Thickening of cloud cover or the invasion of a higher cloud deck is indicative of rain in the near future.

From

Wikipedia

This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.

cloud droplet

Size resolved measurements of cloud droplet deposition velocity to a forest canopy using an eddy correlation technique.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

cloud forest

The surrounding landscape is cloud forest giving way to scattered housing sites, agricultural parcels, pasture, and fields now fallow.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all collocations with cloud

What is the pronunciation of cloud?

Translations of cloud

in Chinese (Traditional)

雲, 一團（塵土、煙霧等）, 雲狀物…

in Chinese (Simplified)

云, 一团（尘土、烟雾等）, 云状物…

in Spanish

nube, nublar, nublarse…

in Portuguese

nuvem, ficar nublado, complicar…

in more languages

in Marathi

in Japanese

in Turkish

in French

in Catalan

in Dutch

in Tamil

in Hindi

in Gujarati

in Danish

in Swedish

in Malay

in German

in Norwegian

in Urdu

in Ukrainian

in Telugu

in Bengali

in Czech

in Indonesian

in Thai

in Vietnamese

in Polish

in Korean

in Italian

ढग…

雲, （ほこりなどの）もうもうとした固まり, 雲（くも）…

bulut, gaz veya başka şeylerin oluşturduğu bulut, bulandırmak…

nuage [masculine], se couvrir, (em)brouiller…

núvol…

wolk, zwerm, schaduw…

மிகச்சிறிய மிதக்கும் நீர்த்துளிகளால் ஆன வானத்தில் சாம்பல் அல்லது வெள்ளைநிறத் திரள், மேகம் போல தோற்றமளிக்கும் தூசி படலம் அல்லது புகை போன்ற ஏதோ ஒரு திரள்…

बादल…

વાદળું, વાદળ…

sky, sværm, mørk sky…

moln, svärm, skugga…

awan, kawanan yang tak terbilang banyaknya, awan hitam…

die Wolke, der Schwarm, der Schatten…