FBI

→ Arabic: إِف بِي أَي (ʔif bī ʔay)

→ Bulgarian: ФБР (FBR)

→ Dutch: FBI

→ French: FBI

→ Galician: FBI

desc

→ Hindi: एफ़ बी आई (ef bī āī)

→ Hindi: एफ़ बी आई (ef bī āī)

→ Indonesian: FBI

→ Japanese: エフ・ビー・アイ

→ Japanese: エフ・ビー・アイ

→ Marathi: एफ्.बी.आय्. (eph.bī.āy.)

→ Persian: افبیآی

→ Portuguese: FBI

→ Romanian: FBI

→ Russian: ФБР (FBR)

→ Thai: เอฟบีไอ

→ Thai: เอฟบีไอ

(Australia, weather, firefighting) fire behaviour index


close

en-adj

close (comparative closer, superlative closest)

closer (comparative)
closest (superlative)

open

antonym(s) of “articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate”

Borrowed from French clos, from Latin clausum, participle of claudō.

close only counts in horseshoes and darts

close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

Compressed, restricted, constrained, etc.

(Ireland, UK, weather) Hot, humid, with no wind.


break

From Middle English breken, from Old English brecan (“to break”), from Proto-West Germanic *brekan, from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”). The word is a doublet of bray.
Cognates
Cognates of Germanic origin include Scots brek (“to break”), West Frisian brekke (“to break”), Dutch breken (“to break”), Low German breken (“to break”), German brechen (“to break”), French broyer (“to crush, grind”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break, destroy”), Norwegian brek (“desire, yearning”).
Also cognate with Albanian brishtë (“fragile”), Latin frangō (“break, break up, shatter”, verb), whence English fracture and other terms – fragile, frail, fraction, and fragment.

cog

(British, weather) A change, particularly the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather.


CC

en-noun

CC (countable and uncountable, plural CCs)


POP

(weather) Acronym of probability of precipitation.


breeze

en-verb

breeze (third-person singular simple present breezes, present participle breezing, simple past and past participle breezed)

breezes (present singular third-person)
breezing (participle present)
breezed (participle past)
breezed (past)

From the earlier (nautical) term brise, brize (“breeze”), from Middle English brees (“wind”). Ultimate origin obscure.
Variously supposed to derive from a Germanic source like Saterland Frisian Briese (“breeze”), West Frisian brys (“a cool wind”), Dutch bries (“breeze”), early Dutch brysen (“to blow cool and fresh”), or from Spanish brisa (“northeast wind”).
The earliest attestations are in Middle English brees (1460), Catalan brisa, and Italian brezza (all in 15th century), with Spanish (1504) and Portuguese briza (16th century) following closely after. The aforementioned Dutch cognates and French brise, however, are attested later than the term in English. The only internal hypothesis for any of those languages is a modification of Old Occitan bisa (“strong wind”), which is not widely accepted.
Compare also Albanian breshër (“hail”).

unk

obscure

She's sitting opposite a window that's gently breezing into her face, wafting her hair into cover-girl perfection ...

2014 January 21, Hermione Hoby, “Julia Roberts interview for August: Osage County – 'I might actually go to hell for this ...': Julia Roberts reveals why her violent, Oscar-nominated performance in August: Osage County made her feel 'like a terrible person' [print version: 'I might actually go to hell for this ...' (18 January 2014, p. R4)]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):


heat wave

(idiomatic) A period of exceptionally hot weather.

(US, weather broadcasting) Three consecutive days with daytime high temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.


negative

en-adj

negative (comparative more negative, superlative most negative)

more negative (comparative)
most negative (superlative)

From Middle English negative, negatif, from Old French negatif, from Latin negātīvus (“that denies, negative”), from negāre (“to deny”); see negate.

der

I was out in negative weather today.

(mathematics) Of a number: less than zero.

(weather) Less than zero degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit.


drizzle

en-noun

drizzle (countable and uncountable, plural drizzles)

Perhaps a back-formation from dryseling, a dissimilated variant of Middle English drysning (“a falling of dew”), from Old English drysnan (“to extinguish”), related to Old English drēosan (“to fall, to decline”), making it cognate to modern English droze and drowse. Compare also dialectal Swedish drösla.

cog

No longer pouring, the rain outside slowed down to a faint drizzle.

(physics, weather) Very small, numerous, and uniformly dispersed water drops, mist, or sprinkle. Unlike fog droplets, drizzle falls to the ground.

plovisqueig

(physics, weather) numerous small and uniformly dispersed water drops


spritz

en-verb

spritz (third-person singular simple present spritzes, present participle spritzing, simple past and past participle spritzed)

spritzes (present singular third-person)
spritzing (participle present)
spritzed (participle past)
spritzed (past)

From Yiddish שפּריץ (shprits, noun) and שפּריצן (shpritsn, verb).

(impersonal, weather) To drizzle, to rain lightly.


sultry

en-adj

sultry (comparative sultrier, superlative sultriest)

sultrier (comparative)
sultriest (superlative)

From sulter (“verb (obsolete), a variant of swelter”) + -y; compare sweltry.

suffix

verb (obsolete), a variant of <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">swelter</i>

Other ſignes of the Hiues fullneſſe and readineſſe to ſwarm are at the Hiue-doore, […] Fourthly, their firſt lying forth in foggy and ſultrie mornings & euenings, & going in again when the aire is cleere.

1623, Charles Butler, “Of the Swarming of Bees, and the Hiuing of Them”, in The Feminine Monarchie: Or The Historie of Bees. Shewing Their Admirable Nature, and Propertes, Their Generation, and Colonies, Their Gouernment, Loyaltie, Art, Industrie, Enemies, Warres, Magnanimitie, &c. Together with the Right Ordering of Them from Time to Time: And the Sweet Profit Arising thereof. Written out of Experience, London: Printed by Iohn Haviland for Roger Iackson, and are to be sold at his shop in Fleetstreet, ouer against the Conduit, →OCLC:

On recollecting myself, I diſcovered that I had almoſt reached the entrance of the lagoon, and determined to venture in, if poſſible, to take a few fiſh, […] I ſoon caught more trout than I had preſent occaſion for, and the air was too hot and ſultry to admit of their being kept for many hours, even though ſalted or barbecued.

1793 January, William Bartram, “Art. II. Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws. Containing an Account of the Soil and Natural Productions of Those Regions; together with Observations on the Manners of the Indians. Embellished with Copper Plates. By William Bartram. Re-printed from the Philadelphia Edition. 8vo. pp. 520. 7s. 6d. boards. Johnson. 1792.”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged, volume X, London: Printed for R[alph] Griffiths; and sold by T[homas] Becket, in Pall Mall, published 1794, →OCLC, page 17:

Here in the sultriest season let him rest, / Fresh is the green beneath those aged trees; / Here winds of gentlest wing will fan his breast, / From heaven itself he may inhale the breeze: […]

1812, Lord Byron, “Canto II”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: Printed for John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; by Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, stanza XLIX, page 85:

The detachment of Tancred, fifty spears and their armed retinue, which amounted fully to five hundred men, after having taken a short and hasty refreshment, were in arms and mounted before the sultry hour of noon.

1830 November – 1831 November (date written), Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Tales of My Landlord, Fourth and Last Series. […], volume II (Count Robert of Paris), Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Company] for Robert Cadell; London: Whittaker and Co., published 1 December 1831 (indicated as 1832), →OCLC, page 305:

The heat had been painfully oppressive all day; and it was now a close and sultry night.

1859 November 26 – 1860 August 25, [William] Wilkie Collins, “The Narrative of Walter Hartwright, of Clement’s Inn, London”, in The Woman in White. […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, […], published 1860, →OCLC, part I, section III, page 10, column 1:

The weather of the summer of 1863 was, if we include the above four months, not remarkable; but June and September had exceedingly fine weather, while July and August were very unhealthy, being warmer than usual and much damper—that is, sultry.

1864 January 22, Board of Aldermen of New York City, “Summary of Seven Daily Observations of the Temperature, Moisture, Weight, Direction, and Condition of the Atmosphere, for the Year 1863”, in Annual Report of the City Inspector of the City of New York for the Year Ending December 31, 1863 (Document No. 7), New York, N.Y.: Edmund Jones & Co., printers to the Corporation, No. 26 John Street, →OCLC, page 154:

The storm-center gathered slowly around the peaks; low rumble and bowl of thunder increased in frequence; slowly the light shaded as smoky clouds rolled up; the air grew sultrier, and the exasperating breeze puffed a few times and then failed.

1914 January, Zane Grey, “The Mountain Trail”, in The Light of Western Stars: A Romance, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 225:

The soldiers in charge of the English, puzzled apparently how to secure them, conceived the barbarous idea of diving the whole number into a cell which would have been overcrowded with ten captives during the sultry heat of a Bengal midsummer night. The hundred and forty-six unfortunate prisoners were crushed into the narrow space.

1931, Annie Besant, “Conquest and Tyranny”, in England, India, and Afghanistan: And the Story of Afghanistan or Why the Tory Government Gags the Indian Press: A Plea for the Weak against the Strong, 1st Indian edition, Aydar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, →OCLC, pages 26–27:

The Champions League has brought suffering to City and Guardiola - especially when they lost to Premier League rivals Chelsea in the 2021 final - but all the pain disappeared just before midnight on a sultry night in Istanbul.

2023 June 10, Phil McNulty, “Manchester City 1 - 0 Inter Milan”, in BBC Sport:

The battlefield—an undulating, parched, and dusty expanse—is lying under the sultry sun of a July afternoon.

1908, Thomas Hardy, The Dynasts: A Drama of the Napoleonic Wars, […], part third, London: Macmillan and Co., […], →OCLC, Act I, scene iii, page 15:


diffusion

en-noun

diffusion (countable and uncountable, plural diffusions)

Borrowed from Latin diffūsiō, from diffundō; can be decomposed as diffuse + -ion.

(physics, weather) Exchange of airborne media between regions in space in an apparently random motion of a small scale.


wind shear

wind shear (countable and uncountable, plural wind shears)

Wind shear from a microburst, as compared to wind shear resulting from a gust front, is particularly hazardous because it is a short-period event which creates very strong wind gusts with a large variation in direction over a very short distance (1/2 to 2 1/2 miles in diameter).

1985 March 21, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.7.3 Weather Analysis”, in Aircraft Accident Report: United Airlines Flight 663, Boeing 727-222, N7647U, Denver, Colorado, May 31, 1984, page 14:

(meteorology, weather, aviation, uncountable) Variation in wind speed or direction over a short spatial distance.

The first effect of a wind shear was detected at 34 to 42 seconds into the takeoff, at a speed of about 115 KIAS with the airplane about 3,800 feet down the runway. An average shear rate of about 2.5 knots per second resulted in an interruption in acceleration at this point with the airspeed remaining at 115 to 120 KIAS for 7 to 10 seconds.

1985 March 21, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.3 Airplane Takeoff Performance”, in Aircraft Accident Report: United Airlines Flight 663, Boeing 727-222, N7647U, Denver, Colorado, May 31, 1984, page 41:

(meteorology, weather, aviation, countable) A specific instance of variation in wind speed or direction over a short spatial distance.


dewpoint

(weather) Alternative spelling of dew point


breakup

(Alaska and northern Canada, seasons, time) The time of year during which winter ice covering bodies of water disintegrates; more generally, spring.


cloud up

en-verb

cloud up (third-person singular simple present clouds up, present participle clouding up, simple past and past participle clouded up)

clouds up (present singular third-person)
clouding up (participle present)
clouded up (participle past)
clouded up (past)


tramontana

(weather) A dry, cold north wind in Italy and adjacent Mediterranean areas.


cloudwise

Cloudwise, it will be densely overcast tomorrow.

(weather) Regarding the clouds or cloud cover


June gloom

(weather, US, Southern California) Any of several gloomy weather conditions present during June mornings, especially conditions of clouds, cool temperatures, fog, or drizzle.


rain shower

From Middle English, from Old English reġnscūr, from Proto-Germanic *regnaskūrō. Equivalent to rain + shower. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Rienskuur and Icelandic regnskúr.

(weather) A short, mild period of rainfall.


hail shaft

(weather) a region of intense rain and hail accompanied by a strong downdraft


stormtrack

(weather, meteorology) The path traversed by the centre of a cyclonic storm.


paleotempestological

(weather) Relating to paleotempestology.


freeze-up

(seasons, time) The start of the time when surface waters are frozen over.


earthstorm

This earthquake was an earthstorm. Hills were waves, and houses cast adrift were wrecked on them.

1931, Charles Fort, “Lo!”, in The Complete Books of Charles Fort, Dover Publications, published 1974, →ISBN, page 768:

There is an earthstorm, disks of rock careering skyward, buffeting the train.

2004, China Miéville, Iron Council, Del Rey, →ISBN:

It had come from the west, the shock wave from some almighty earthstorm in lost America, rolling clear across the Atlantic before breaking over Thursday Island. It had smashed down buildings, and sunk the ships whose dead masts could still be seen jutting sadly from the water in the harbor.

2010, Philip Reeve, Fever Crumb: A Web of Air, Scholastic, →ISBN:

(seismology, weather, fantasy) An extremely powerful earthquake; a storm involving earth or rock blowing through the air.


maumy

en-adj

maumy (comparative more maumy, superlative most maumy)

more maumy (comparative)
most maumy (superlative)


gale force

By the afternoon it seemed as if the storm had passed and that frost was setting in; but in the evening the wind rose to gale force, bringing telegraph poles down like skittles and tangling power and telephone lines.

1960 March, “The January blizzard in the North-East of Scotland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 137:

(weather) Of a wind, having the speed and strength of a gale.


cold spell

The only factors in the first four weeks of this year which, apart from greater commercial effort, might have been expected to influence B.R. receipts were the cold spell and the Post Office "go slow".

1962 April, “Talking of Trains: Disappointing statistics”, in Modern Railways, page 220:

(weather) A short period during which temperatures are much lower than usual.


ground fog

Ground fog had been hanging about all day, and after leaving Cambridge we had the curious experience of running through quite a thick fog, yet above the top of which most of the signals were clearly visible.

1959 September, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 432:

(weather) A low-lying fog extending only a few feet above ground.


belt down

en-verb

belt down (third-person singular simple present belts down, present participle belting down, simple past and past participle belted down)

belts down (present singular third-person)
belting down (participle present)
belted down (participle past)
belted down (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-belt down.wav

Rain belted down throughout the city.


like fits

en-adv

like fits (comparative more like fits, superlative most like fits)

more like fits (comparative)
most like fits (superlative)

That night we arrived at a little place called Georgenthal where we got a jolly supper and slept in two most romantically large, rickety, cold and ghostly chambers, with the wind outside blowing like fits and creaking the dismal old sign in the most pleasing manner.

(Can we date this quote?), Henry Adams, Letters Of Henry Adams 1858 1891:

It was blowing like fits; if anything had carried away I should have been on shore in a jiffy..

1903, Erskine Childers, chapter VIII, in The Riddle of the Sands, Nelson Library edition, London: T Nelson & Sons, page 98:

[…] the weather has changed instead of freezing now it is blowing gales and raining like fits.

1907, “Robertsbridge - a Mediaeval Village”, in Diary of Ethel Mercy Burchett – a Robertsbridge Girl, retrieved 2024-07-26:

(obsolete, weather) in squalls, strongly, in paroxysms