a violent storm with very strong winds which move in a circle. There is often also a long cloud which is narrower at the bottom than the top.Tornadoes ripped into the southern United States yesterday.She burst in to the room like a tornado.Wordfinderdisasteravalanche,cyclone,disaster,earthquake,eruption,flood,hurricane,landslide,tornado,tsunamiWordfinderwindbreeze,buffet,calm,force,gale,gust,hurricane,prevailing,tornado,windCollocationsThe weatherGood weatherbe bathed in/bask in/be blessed with/enjoy bright/brilliant/glorious sunshine the sun shines/warms something/beats down (on something) the sunshine breaks/streams through something fluffy/wispy clouds drift across the sky a gentle/light/stiff/cool/warm/sea breeze blows in/comes in off the sea the snow crunches beneath/under somebody’s feet/bootsBad weather thick/dark/storm clouds form/gather/roll in/cover the sky/block out the sun the sky darkens/turns black a fine mist hangs in the air a dense/heavy/thick fog rolls in the rain falls/comes down (in buckets/sheets)/pours down snow falls/comes down/covers something the wind blows/whistles/howls/picks up/whips through something/sweeps across something strong/gale-force winds blow/gust (up to 80 mph) a storm is approaching/is moving inland/hits/strikes/rages thunder rolls/rumbles/sounds (forked/sheet) lightning strikes/hits/flashes a (blinding/snow) blizzard hits/strikes/blows/rages a tornado touches down/hits/strikes/destroys something/rips through somethingforecast/expect/predict rain/snow/a category-four hurricane(North American English)pour (down)/(British English)pour (down) with rainget caught in/seek shelter from/escape the rainbe covered/shrouded in mist/a blanket of fogbe in for/brave/shelter from a/the stormhear rolling/distant thunderbe battered/buffeted by strong winds(British English)be blowing a galebattle against/brave the elementsThe weather improves the sun breaks through the clouds the sky clears/brightens (up)/lightens (up) the clouds part/clear the rain stops/lets up/holds off the wind dies down the storm passes the mist/fog lifts/clearsOxford Collocations Dictionaryadjectivedeadly,powerful,possible,…tornado + verbhit something,strike something,come down,…verb + tornadocause,produce,spawn,…tornado + nounwarning,watch,siren,…prepositionin a/the tornadoSeefull entrySee related entries:Natural disasters,Wind,SkyWord Originmid 16th cent. (denoting a violent thunderstorm of the tropical Atlantic Ocean): perhaps an alteration of Spanish tronada ‘thunderstorm’ (from tronar ‘to thunder’) by association with Spanish tornar ‘to turn’.Extra examplesA powerful tornado touched down in Evansville, Indiana.McMullen County is expecting a possible tornado.The building was badly damaged in a tornado.The group meets every spring to chase tornadoes.The town was hit by a tornado last night.There are tornado watches in effect all across eastern Alabama.Tropical storm Bonnie spawned tornadoes in North Carolina.We had a tornado warning earlier in the evening.The tornado picked up their mobile home and dumped it on the other side of the field.The tornado touched down north-west of Hobbs, New Mexico, damaging a barn and trailer home.
See tornado in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
