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Gillyflower Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

The difference between "thunderbolt" and "lightning"

Hi,

What is the difference between "thunderbolt" and "lightning"?
I found the following definitions for these words but I couldn't understand the difference between them.
thunderbolt: a discharge of lightning accompanied by thunder
lightning: abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light

Thanks!
  

Top answer

Hi 'Thunderbolt' refers to the noise and the light. The word is often used as a metaphor: "When I lost my job, it came as a thunderbolt". You can use the word to refer to actual thunder and lightning too 'Lightning' refers only to the streak of light in the sky Dave

— Dave_anon

  • Hi 'Thunderbolt' refers to the noise and the light.
  • The word is often used as a metaphor: "When I lost my job, it came as a thunderbolt".
  • You can use the word to refer to actual thunder and lightning too 'Lightning' refers only to the streak of light in the sky Dave
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3 Answers
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Hi

'Thunderbolt' refers to the noise and the light. The word is often used as a metaphor: "When I lost my job, it came as a thunderbolt". You can use the word to refer to actual thunder and lightning too

'Lightning' refers only to the streak of light in the sky

Dave

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Thank you for your reply.

What about thunder? I think it refers only to the crashing noise which is heard after the lightning, right?
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Hi

Yes, that's right - the thunder is the noise

One of the things people sometimes do is, when they see the lightning, they count the seconds until the thunder. Each count of five, until the thunder arrives, tells you how many miles away the storm is. So a count of ten means that the storm is about two miles away

It's to do with the speed of light and the speed of sound
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