Library / English Dictionary

BOOM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of various more-or-less horizontal spars or poles used to extend the foot of a sail or for handling cargo or in mooring

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("boom" is a kind of...):

spar (a stout rounded pole of wood or metal used to support rigging)

Holonyms ("boom" is a part of...):

sailing ship; sailing vessel (a vessel that is powered by the wind; often having several masts)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A pole carrying an overhead microphone projected over a film or tv set

Synonyms:

boom; microphone boom

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("boom" is a kind of...):

pole (a long (usually round) rod of wood or metal or plastic)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A deep prolonged loud noise

Synonyms:

boom; roar; roaring; thunder

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("boom" is a kind of...):

noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))

Derivation:

boom (make a deep hollow sound)

boom (make a resonant sound, like artillery)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A sudden happening that brings good fortune (as a sudden opportunity to make money)

Example:

the demand for testing has created a boom for those unregulated laboratories where boxes of specimen jars are processed like an assembly line

Synonyms:

bonanza; boom; bunce; godsend; gold rush; gravy; manna from heaven; windfall

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("boom" is a kind of...):

happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A state of economic prosperity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("boom" is a kind of...):

prosperity (an economic state of growth with rising profits and full employment)

Derivation:

boom (grow vigorously)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Grow vigorously

Example:

business is booming

Synonyms:

boom; expand; flourish; thrive

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "boom" is one way to...):

grow (become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "boom"):

revive (be brought back to life, consciousness, or strength)

luxuriate (thrive profusely or flourish extensively)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

The business is going to boom

Derivation:

boom (a state of economic prosperity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hit hard

Example:

He smashed a 3-run homer

Synonyms:

blast; boom; nail; smash

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "boom" is one way to...):

hit (deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make a deep hollow sound

Example:

Her voice booms out the words of the song

Synonyms:

boom; boom out

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "boom" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

boom (a deep prolonged loud noise)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make a resonant sound, like artillery

Example:

His deep voice boomed through the hall

Synonyms:

boom; din

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "boom" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

Cars boom in the streets

The streets boom with cars

Derivation:

boom (a deep prolonged loud noise)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Be the case that thunder is being heard

Example:

Whenever it thunders, my dog crawls under the bed

Synonyms:

boom; thunder

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

"Boom" entails doing...:

storm (blow hard)

Sentence frame:

It is ----ing

Sentence examples:

It was booming all day long

The business is going to boom

Credits

 Context examples: 

It seemed one of the longest quarters of an hour that I had ever known before the first stroke of nine boomed from the parish clock.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The storm was fearful, and as it boomed loudly among the chimney-pots, it made me shudder.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The resulting boom of aquatic plant growth can cause oxygen levels in the water to plunge, leading to fish die-offs and other harmful effects.

(Plant gene discovery could help reduce fertilizer pollution in waterways, National Science Foundation)

Undulating hills were changed to valleys, undulating valleys (with a solitary storm-bird sometimes skimming through them) were lifted up to hills; masses of water shivered and shook the beach with a booming sound; every shape tumultuously rolled on, as soon as made, to change its shape and place, and beat another shape and place away; the ideal shore on the horizon, with its towers and buildings, rose and fell; the clouds fell fast and thick; I seemed to see a rending and upheaving of all nature.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Balch suspects that booming coccolithophore populations in the Southern Ocean are depleting the water layer's nutrient supply and altering its chemistry — potentially making the water inhospitable to coccolithophores by the time it reaches the equator.

(Study reveals changing patterns in globally important algae, National Science Foundation)

Such dips occur at wavelengths between 65 megahertz (MHz) and 95 MHz, overlapping with some of the most widely used frequencies on the FM radio dial, as well as booming radio waves emanating naturally from the Milky Way galaxy.

(Astronomers detect ancient signal from first stars in universe, National Science Foundation)

Since much of the material being flung out from the shattered star has been heated by shock waves − similar to sonic booms from supersonic planes − passing through it, the remnant glows strongly in X-ray light.

(Chandra Movie Captures Expanding Debris from a Stellar Explosion, NASA)

Senior experts and engineers from across the agency and the Lockheed Martin Corporation concluded Friday that the QueSST design is capable of fulfilling the LBFD aircraft’s mission objectives, which are to fly at supersonic speeds, but create a soft thump instead of the disruptive sonic boom associated with supersonic flight today.

(NASA Completes Milestone Toward Quieter Supersonic X-Plane, NASA)

We stood near the edge peering down at the gleam of the breaking water far below us against the black rocks, and listening to the half-human shout which came booming up with the spray out of the abyss.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)