overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

lightning.

A flash of light produced by short-duration, high-voltage discharge of electricity within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the earth.

9 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ//ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ/General-American[ˈlʌɪ̯ʔ.nɪŋ]General-American[ˈlɐɪ̯ʔ.nɪŋ]General-American
  1. A flash of light produced by short-duration, high-voltage discharge of electricity within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the earth.

    uncountable · usually
    Although we did not see the lightning, we did hear the thunder.
  2. A discharge of this kind.

    uncountable · usually
    The lightning was hot enough to melt the sand.
    That tree was hit by lightning.
  3. Anything that moves very fast.

    figuratively · uncountable · usually
  4. Gin.

    archaic · slang · uncountable · usually
  5. Obsolete form of lightening.

    alt-of · obsolete · uncountable · usually
Where this word comes from

From light(e)n + -ing. Doublet of lightening.

adj/ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ//ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ/General-American[ˈlʌɪ̯ʔ.nɪŋ]General-American[ˈlɐɪ̯ʔ.nɪŋ]General-American
  1. Extremely fast or sudden; moving (as if) at the speed of lightning.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

From light(e)n + -ing. Doublet of lightening.

verb/ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ//ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ/General-American[ˈlʌɪ̯ʔ.nɪŋ]General-American[ˈlɐɪ̯ʔ.nɪŋ]General-American
  1. To produce lightning.

    childish · impersonal · intransitive · nonstandard
Where this word comes from

From light(e)n + -ing. Doublet of lightening.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

lightning has 9 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

lightning studiolightning workshello, lightning

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.