cloud

KLOWD/klaʊd/

Pluralclouds

Verbclouds, clouding, clouded

17 meanings of cloud

Practice

1
sky vapornouncountable or uncountable
A visible mass of tiny water droplets or ice crystals that floats suspended in the air.
A single cloud cast a moving shadow over the valley.
Layers of thin clouds spread across the morning sky.
UsageWeather forecasts often use it without a: low cloud, patches of cloud, cloud cover.
2
internet storagenounwith the
The internet or a remote network, seen as a shared place for storing data and running programs.
The company moved its entire database to the cloud last year.
Most modern apps sync your data through the cloud automatically.
UsageSave files to the cloud; they are stored in the cloud.
Note
The image suggests something weightless and everywhere, and that vagueness has drawn criticism. James Bridle's New Dark Age (2018) describes it becoming a business buzzword. Molly Crabapple insists there is no cloud at all, only other people's computers in vast datacenters consuming water and electricity.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
James Bridle wrote New Dark Age, first published in 2018. archandai.org
The cloud metaphor's vagueness and suggestion of immateriality have attracted criticism. archandai.org
Bridle's book describes the cloud becoming a business buzzword. en.wiktionary.org
Molly Crabapple says the cloud consists of other people's computers and vast datacentres consuming water and electricity. theguardian.com
3
smoke massnouncountable
A mass of smoke, steam, dust, insects, or other small things gathered or floating in the air.
A cloud of steam billowed from the factory chimney.
The volcano sent up huge clouds of ash.
UsageUsually a cloud of + what it is made of: a cloud of dust, clouds of ash.
Similarplume, mass, billow
4
nouncountable
Something that causes gloom, worry or suspicion, as in cast a cloud over, under a cloud.
News of the layoffs cast a cloud over the company's holiday party.
A cloud of suspicion hung over the department after the missing funds were discovered.
UsageCommon in cast a cloud over something and under a cloud, meaning suspected or in disgrace.
Similarshadow, pall
5
dull the mindverbtransitive
To make the mind, judgment or a matter less clear or harder to understand.
Exhaustion clouds the mind and slows reaction times.
Painkillers can cloud a patient's awareness of time.
UsageOften cloud someone's judgment: emotions can cloud your judgment.
Similarfog, blur, muddle, confuse, dull
Oppositeclear, sharpen, clarify
Note
Mostly the verb for dulled perception: what gets clouded is usually a faculty, though a topic can be clouded too. The subject is typically whatever gets in the way, such as a feeling, a drug or fatigue. People also cloud an issue or an argument, making it harder to follow.
6
become murkyverbintransitive
To become or make foggy, cloudy or hidden, as glass, the sky or the sun.
Glass panels cloud over when warm air meets cold surfaces.
The bathroom mirror clouded over the moment she turned on the hot shower, so she wiped it with a towel.
UsageOften cloud over: the sky clouded over. Of a face, his face clouded means he looked troubled.
Similarfog, mist, steam
Oppositeclear
Note
Glass clouds when you breathe on it, and a sky or a face can cloud in the same way. Used of a face or expression, it slides from appearance into mood, so "his face clouded" tells us something troubled him.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Breathing on glass can make it cloudy. en.wiktionary.org
7
bubble shapenouncountable
An oval shape or symbol whose outline is a row of semicircles, meant to resemble a cloud.
The illustrator framed the hero's thoughts inside a cloud with a bumpy outline.
Each annotation sat within a small cloud sketched along the margin of the blueprint.
Similarbubble

Less common meanings

8
verbtransitive
To make a person or mood gloomy, sullen, or downcast.
A single harsh comment from her boss can cloud her spirits for days.
The bad news from home clouded her mood for the rest of the trip, though she tried to hide it.
Similardarken, sadden, dampen, sour
Oppositebrighten, lighten, cheer
Note
A sense with a long literary pedigree. In Shakespeare's Richard II (1597), Salisbury speaks of a delay that "hath clouded all thy happy days on earth," and Adam in Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) urges "Be not disheartened, then, nor cloud those looks." Its objects are days, faces and looks, the outward signs of mood. Gloom spreads over them the way weather darkens a sky.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
Richard II was first published in 1597; 1595 is associated with its early performance history. shakespearedocumented.folger.edu
Shakespeare wrote the quoted words about a delay; the speaker is Salisbury in Richard II, Act 3, scene 2. folger.edu
Paradise Lost was first published in 1667. en.wikisource.org
John Milton wrote Paradise Lost. en.wikisource.org
The quoted injunction occurs in Paradise Lost; Adam addresses Eve in Book V. The item uses modernized spelling and punctuation. en.wikisource.org
9
damage reputationverbtransitive
To stain or tarnish a person's reputation or character.
Rumors of a bribe clouded the coach's reputation for years, even after an inquiry cleared him.
Even unproven accusations can cloud a politician's reputation long after the headlines fade.
Similartarnish, stain, taint, sully, blemish
Oppositeenhance, burnish
10
nounrarefigurativelycountable
Something insubstantial; a thing without real solidity or lasting substance.
Similarillusion, mirage
11
misty breathverbintransitive
Of the breath, to condense into visible mist.
His breath clouded in the icy air while he waited for the bus.
Step outside in midwinter and your breath will cloud instantly.
Similarsteam, mist, condense, fog
12
patch with colorverbtransitive
To mark or become marked with dark spots, streaks or veins of color.
The orchid's pale green petals are clouded with deep purple spots that grow darker toward the center of the flower.
Under the lamp, the jade carving looked pale green, clouded with darker streaks that ran through the stone.
Similarmottle, marble, streak, fleck, dapple
Note
A craftsman's and dyer's use, about surfaces rather than skies: yarn can be clouded with patches of color, a cane with darker veins. It pairs naturally with the noun for a dark spot, and the past participle serves well as an adjective. Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock teases Sir Plume for "the nice conduct of a clouded cane." Without an object, it means to become marked in this way.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Alexander Pope wrote The Rape of the Lock. gutenberg.org
The poem satirizes Sir Plume with the quoted phrase, which occurs in the narrator's description of him. gutenberg.org
13
nouncountable
A patch of darker color standing out against lighter material or a lighter background.
The old white horse had a gray cloud across one shoulder that made him easy to spot in the field.
The cream-colored pot had a dark cloud on one side where the flames had touched it in the kiln.
Similarspot, patch, blemish, smudge
14
nounobsolete
A rock or boulder; also a hill.
Note
The oldest meaning of the word, and long out of use: Old English clūd meant a mass of stone, a rock, a boulder or a hill. It comes from a Germanic word for a lump or mass, and from a root meaning "to ball up, clench." That idea of a heaped-up mass links it to the clouds of the sky.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
The rock or hill meaning predates the sky-cloud meaning. iecor.clld.org
The rock, boulder or hill sense is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
Old English clūd meant stone, rock, boulder or hill. en.wiktionary.org
Cloud descends from a Germanic word meaning lump or mass. en.wiktionary.org
Its reconstructed ancestry includes a root meaning to ball up or clench. en.wiktionary.org
The sky meaning developed through resemblance between rock masses and clouds. en.wikipedia.org
15
nounslang
Crystal methamphetamine, a powerful illegal stimulant.
16
nounslang
A humorous name for a white cat.
17
noun
A woman's large headscarf of loose, open knitting.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of cloud apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English "cloud," from Old English "clūd" meaning a mass of stone, rock, boulder, or hill, going back through Proto-West Germanic "*klūt" and Proto-Germanic "*klūtaz" to a Proto-Indo-European root "*gel-" ("to ball up, clench"). It is related to English "clod," "clot," "clump," and "club," and it largely replaced the older Middle English word "wolken."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

Cloud derives from Middle English cloud and Old English clūd. en.wiktionary.org
Old English clūd meant stone, rock, boulder, or hill. en.wiktionary.org
Clūd descends through Proto-West Germanic *klūt from Proto-Germanic *klūtaz. en.wiktionary.org
The reconstructed ancestry reaches Proto-Indo-European *gel-, meaning to ball up or clench. en.wiktionary.org
Cloud is related to clod, clot, clump, and club. en.wiktionary.org
Cloud largely displaced the older Middle English word for cloud. en.wiktionary.org
Wolken is an attested alternative form of Middle English welkne. en.wiktionary.org