Definition of "monsoon" []

• A wind system that influences large climatic regions and reverses direction seasonally. (noun)
• A wind from the southwest or south that brings heavy rainfall to southern Asia in the summer. (noun)
• The rain that accompanies this wind. (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 term monsoon, or "monsun," I may explain, is derived from an Arabic word, _mausim_, meaning "a set time, or season of the year;" and is generally applied to a system of regular wind currents, like the Trades, blowing in different hemispheres beyond the range of those old customers with which ordinary voyagers are familiar."
• "We're looking for more rain for Myanmar, and this is just really the beginning of what we call the monsoon season."
• "The threat's going to be ongoing though because we're in what we call the monsoon season, where afternoon thunderstorms are prevalent in the mountains hit and miss."