lightning Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
  2. noun the flash of light that accompanies an electric discharge in the atmosphere (or something resembling such a flash); can scintillate for a second or more

WordNet

Light"ning noun
Etymology
For lightening, fr. lighten to flash.
Definitions
  1. A discharge of atmospheric electricity, accompanied by a vivid flash of light, commonly from one cloud to another, sometimes from a cloud to the earth. The sound produced by the electricity in passing rapidly through the atmosphere constitutes thunder.
  2. The act of making bright, or the state of being made bright; enlightenment; brightening, as of the mental powers. R.
Light"ning verbal noun
Definitions
  1. Lightening. R.

Webster 1913