LIGHTNINGS
Noun
lightnings
(archaic) plural of lightning
Verb
lightnings
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of lightning
Source: Wiktionary
LIGHTNING
Light"ning, n. Etym: [For lightening, fr. lighten to flash.]
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.] Ball
lightning, a rare form of lightning sometimes seen as a globe of fire
moving from the clouds to the earth.
– Chain lightning, lightning in angular, zigzag, or forked flashes.
– Heat lightning, more or less vivid and extensive flashes of
electric light, without thunder, seen near the horizon, esp. at the
close of a hot day.
– Lightning arrester (Telegraphy), a device, at the place where a
wire enters a building, for preventing injury by lightning to an
operator or instrument. It consists of a short circuit to the ground
interrupted by a thin nonconductor over which lightning jumps. Called
also lightning discharger.
– Lightning bug (Zoöl.), a luminous beetle. See Firefly.
– Lightning conductor, a lightning rod.
– Lightning glance, a quick, penetrating glance of a brilliant eye.
– Lightning rod, a metallic rod set up on a building, or on the
mast of a vessel, and connected with the earth or water below, for
the purpose of protecting the building or vessel from lightning.
– Sheet lightning, a diffused glow of electric light flashing out
from the clouds, and illumining their outlines. The appearance is
sometimes due to the reflection of light from distant flashes of
lightning by the nearer clouds.
Light"ning, vb. n.
Definition: Lightening. [R.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition