CLOUD

[noun] [C] - a usually grey or white mass seen in the sky made of very small floating drops of water, or a mass of something such as dust or smoke that looks like thisDo you think those are rain clouds on the horizon?The sky was a perfect blue - not a cloud in sight.On the eastern horizon, a huge cloud of smoke from burning oil tanks stretched across the sky.Gloria said good night, got in her car, and took off, leaving a cloud of dust.The initial cloud of tear gas had hardly cleared before shots were fired.Temperatures will continue to be variable, depending on wind direction and cloud cover (= the amount of sky that is covered by clouds).(literary) Dark clouds massed on the horizon.A cloud bank is a big low mass of cloud.A cloud-burst is a sudden heavy fall of rain.Cloud-capped hills or mountains are surrounded at the top by clouds.(specialized) A cloud-chamber is a device containing a gas in which the presence of units of matter smaller than atoms is shown by the small drops of liquid that they produce.A cloud hanging over you is something which makes you worry or be unhappy.It's awful when you're waiting for an operation, because you feel like there's a cloud hanging over you.A cloud on the horizon is something that threatens to cause problems or unhappiness in the future.The only cloud on the horizon is my mother-in-law coming to stay in December.If you are under a cloud, you are for some reason not trusted or popular.The cabinet minister left his office under a cloud after a fraud scandal.(disapproving) Someone is said to live in cloud-cuckoo-land if they are not realistic and think that things which are completely impossible might happen.(dated) On cloud nine means extremely happy and excited."Was Helen pleased about getting that job?" "Pleased? She was on cloud nine!"(saying) 'Every cloud has a silver lining' means there is a good side to every difficult or unpleasant situation.