lightning
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.moving or happening very quickly.
adj.characterised by extreme speed or suddenness; often used metaphorically to describe reactions or movements.
Simple“The boxer had lightning reflexes and avoided every punch.”
In context“The company responded with lightning speed to the market crash, liquidating its most volatile assets before the end of the trading day.”
- 02 B1 Intermediate
v.to have flashes of lightning in the sky.
v.to emit or produce lightning; used as an impersonal verb similar to 'it is raining'.
Simple“It started to thunder and lightning just as we reached the car.”
In context“The children were frightened because it had been lightning for over an hour without any sign of the storm passing.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
n.an old, informal word for gin.
n.a slang term for gin or strong spirits.
Simple“The old sailor sat in the corner with a glass of blue lightning.”
In context“In the nineteenth-century underworld, 'lightning' was a common cant term for the cheap, potent gin sold in urban slums.”
Usage lightning strikes
From light(e)n + -ing. Doublet of lightening.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.