Definition of "cumulonimbus" []

• An extremely dense, vertically developed cumulus with a relatively hazy outline and a glaciated top extending to great heights, usually producing heavy rains, thunderstorms, or hailstorms. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The cumulonimbus is the Savage Beast of the Sky, a beautiful shaft of pregnant water bubbling at 26,000 feet, about to open up a can of whoop-ass on you and yours."
• "The haze behaves somewhat like particles in the tops of thunderheads on Earth (known as cumulonimbus anvils) or in the ash plumes from large volcanic eruptions, which rise into the upper atmosphere and spread around the world."
• "The haze behaves somewhat like particles in the tops of thunderheads (known as cumulonimbus anvils) on Earth or in the ash plumes from large volcanic eruptions, which rise into the upper atmosphere and spread around the world, Wong said."