boom
UK /buːm/ · US /bum/ verb, noun, interjection, proper noun
Forms booms booming boomed
- verb To make a loud, hollow, resonant sound. “Thunder boomed in the distance and lightning flashes lit up the horizon.”
- verb (transitive, figuratively, of speech) To exclaim with force, to shout, to thunder.
- verb (intransitive) To flourish, grow, or progress. “The population boomed in recent years.”
- verb (transitive) To make (something) boom. “Men in grey robes slowly boom the drums of death.”
- verb (of a Eurasian bittern) To make a deep, resonant, territorial vocalisation.
- verb (intransitive) To cause a sonic boom.
- verb (transitive, slang) To subject (someone or something) to a sonic boom.
- verb (slang, US, obsolete) To publicly praise, to rally behind.
- noun A low-pitched, resonant sound, such as of an explosion. “the boom of the surf”
- noun A rapid expansion or increase. “You should prepare for the coming boom in the tech industry.”
- noun (economics, business) A period of prosperity, growth, progress, or high market activity.
- noun One of the calls of certain monkeys or birds.
- noun (computer chess, slang) An instance of booming.
- interjection Used to suggest the sound of an explosion. “crash boom bang”
- interjection Used to suggest something happening suddenly or unexpectedly; voilà. “Add one cup of hot water, wait a minute, and boom — your cup of ramen is ready.”
- interjection The sound of a bass drum beating.
- interjection The sound of a cannon firing.
- noun (sailing) A spar extending the foot of a sail; a spar rigged outboard from a ship's side to which boats are secured in harbour.
- noun A specially-designed, movable pole, used to suspend a microphone or camera high above the ground during filming or recording.
- noun A horizontal member of a crane or derrick, used for lifting.
Synonyms
flourish prosper chain chain boom roar roaring thunder bonanza gold rush gravy godsend manna from heaven windfall bunce microphone boom din smash nail blast boom out thrive expand
Antonyms
Etymology
Onomatopoeic, perhaps borrowed; compare German bummen, Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”). The sense "a period of economic growth" is generally taken to derive from the sense "a rapid expansion", although other origins have also been suggested.
Borrowed from Dutch boom (“tree; pole”). Doublet of beam.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A long pole or spar, run out for the purpose of extending the bottom of a particular sail; as, the jib boom, the studding-sail boom, etc.
- noun A long spar or beam, projecting from the mast of a derrick, from the outer end of which the body to be lifted is suspended.
- verb To extend, or push, with a boom or pole; as, to boom out a sail; to boom off a boat.
- verb To cry with a hollow note; to make a hollow sound, as the bittern, and some insects.
Etymology [D. boom tree, pole, beam, bar. See Beam.]
Etymology [Of imitative origin; cf. OE. bommen to hum, D. bommen to drum, sound as an empty barrel, also W. bwmp a hollow sound; aderyn y bwmp, the bird of the hollow sound, i. e., the bittern. Cf. Bum, Bump, v. i., Bomb, v. i.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “boom”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details