THUNDERBOLT

bombshell, thunderbolt, thunderclap

(noun) a shocking surprise; “news of the attack came like a bombshell”

thunderbolt, bolt, bolt of lightning

(noun) a discharge of lightning accompanied by thunder

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

thunderbolt (plural thunderbolts)

A flash of lightning accompanied by a crash of thunder.

(figuratively) An event that is terrible, horrific or unexpected.

Vehement threatening or censure; especially, ecclesiastical denunciation; fulmination.

(soccer) A very powerful shot.

(paleontology) A belemnite, or thunderstone.

(heraldiccharge) A charge in the form of two joined bundles with four rays of lightning emerging from them, resembling the thunderbolt of Jupiter.

A daring or irresistible hero.

Source: Wiktionary

Thun"der*bolt`, n.

1. A shaft of lightning; a brilliant stream of electricity passing from one part of the heavens to another, or from the clouds to the earth.

2. Something resembling lightning in suddenness and effectiveness. The Scipios' worth, those thunderbolts of war. Dryden.

3. Vehement threatening or censure; especially, ecclesiastical denunciation; fulmination. He severely threatens such with the thunderbolt of excommunication. Hakewill.

4. (Paleon.)

Definition: A belemnite, or thunderstone. Thunderbolt beetle (Zoöl.), a long-horned beetle (Arhopalus fulminans) whose larva bores in the trunk of oak and chestnut trees. It is brownish and bluish-black, with W-shaped whitish or silvery markings on the elytra.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition