cloud

1 of 2

noun

ˈklau̇d

: a visible mass of particles of condensed vapor (such as water or ice) suspended in the atmosphere of a planet (such as the earth) or moon

: something resembling or suggesting a cloud: such as

: a light filmy, puffy, or billowy mass seeming to float in the air

a cloud of blond hair

a ship under a cloud of sail

b(1)

: a usually visible mass of minute particles suspended in the air or a gas

(2)

: an aggregation of usually obscuring matter especially in interstellar space

(3)

: an aggregate of charged particles (such as electrons)

: a great crowd or multitude : swarm

clouds of mosquitoes

: something that has a dark, lowering, or threatening aspect

clouds of war

a cloud of suspicion

: something that obscures or blemishes

a cloud of ambiguity

: a dark or opaque vein or spot (as in marble or a precious stone)

: the computers and connections that support cloud computing

storing files in the cloud

—often used before another noun

cloud storage/backupcloud software

cloudlike

ˈklau̇d-ˌlīk

adjective

or cloud-like

cloudlike swirls

cloudlike chocolate mousse

Illustration of cloud

1 cirrus
2 cirrostratus
3 cirrocumulus
4 altostratus
5 altocumulus
6 stratocumulus
7 nimbostratus
8 cumulus
9 cumulonimbus
10 stratus

cloud

2 of 2

verb

clouded; clouding; clouds

intransitive verb

: to grow cloudy

—usually used with over or up

clouded over before the storm

of facial features : to become troubled, apprehensive, or distressed in appearance

her face clouded with worry

: to become blurry, dubious, or ominous

—often used with over

the outlook is clouding over

: to billow up in the form of a cloud

transitive verb

: to envelop or hide with or as if with a cloud

: to make opaque especially by condensation of moisture

steam clouded the windows

: to make murky especially with smoke or mist

smoke clouded the sky

: to make unclear or confused

cloud the issue

: taint, sully

a clouded reputation

: to cast gloom over

cloud prospects for success

Example Sentences

Noun The sun is shining and there's not a cloud in the sky. flying high above the clouds It stopped raining and the sun poked through the clouds. a cloud of cigarette smoke The team has been under a cloud since its members were caught cheating. There's a cloud of controversy hanging over the election. Verb greed clouding the minds of men These new ideas only cloud the issue further. The final years of her life were clouded by illness. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

And yet the effects of the chemical in the cloud, Nyodene D., on humans were extremely long-term; the poison would take decades to cook up its lethality inside him.

Jon Mooallem, New York Times, 23 Nov. 2022 Amazon’s layoffs have affected employees across a variety of teams, including in Amazon’s Luna cloud-gaming service, Alexa marketing, Alexa AI and Alexa Privacy and the Lab126 innovation arm, according to employees.

Sebastian Herrera, WSJ, 17 Nov. 2022 Employees who work in different units, including voice assistant Alexa and cloud gaming platform Amazon Luna, said they were let go on Tuesday, according to LinkedIn posts.

Haleluya Hadero, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Nov. 2022 Employees who work in different units, including voice assistant Alexa and cloud gaming platform Amazon Luna, said they were let go on Tuesday, according to LinkedIn posts.

Haleluya Hadero, Chicago Tribune, 16 Nov. 2022 Employees who work in different units, including voice assistant Alexa and cloud gaming platform Amazon Luna, said they were let go on Tuesday, according to LinkedIn posts.

Haleluya Hadero, Fortune, 16 Nov. 2022 Since gadgets can talk to each other locally, actions no longer have to be processed in the cloud.

Hunter Fenollol, Popular Mechanics, 10 Nov. 2022 Williams acknowledges that some users may prefer or even require that their email be hosted locally rather than in the cloud for legal or privacy issues.

WIRED, 21 Oct. 2022 After years of touting cloud gaming, Microsoft presented a much less optimistic outlook on the nascent technology this week.

Shannon Liao, Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2022

Verb

One of the keys to successful investing in general is to not let irrelevant data cloud your emotions, and to keep your bias and emotions at the door.

Andrew Rosen, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2022 Third: Accelerating the shift to cloud with help from partners.

Nick Rockel, Fortune, 31 Oct. 2022 Tomorrow night: Skies try to cloud up just before dawn.

A. Camden Walker, Washington Post, 28 Oct. 2022 While skies began to cloud up, waves remained normal, and few people appeared to be rushing to take precautions.

Julianne Mcshane, NBC News, 23 Oct. 2022 While skies began to cloud up, waves remained normal, and few people appeared to be rushing to take precautions.

CBS News, 23 Oct. 2022 While skies began to cloud up, waves remained normal, and few people appeared to be rushing to take precautions.

BostonGlobe.com, 23 Oct. 2022 Marlowe said isolation is a concern in Alabama, where unique challenges continue to cloud the state’s rural health system.

al, 25 Sep. 2022 Nearly every step of the way, unconscious bias can cloud interactions between customers and companies—on both sides of the equation.

Sagar Rajgopal, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cloud.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.