boom
pronunciation
How to pronounce boom in British English:
UK [buːm]
How to pronounce boom in American English:
US [buːm]
-
- Noun:
- a deep prolonged loud noise
- a state of economic prosperity
- a sudden happening that brings good fortune (as a sudden opportunity to make money)
- a pole carrying an overhead microphone projected over a film or tv set
- 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
-
- Verb:
- make a resonant sound, like artillery
- hit hard
- be the case that thunder is being heard
- make a deep hollow sound
- grow stronger
Word Origin
- boom
- boom: see beam
- boom (v.)
- mid-15c., earliest use was for bees and wasps, probably echoic of humming. The meaning "make a loud noise" is 15c. Compare bomb. Meaning "to burst into prosperity" (of places, businesses, etc.) is 1871, American English. Related: Boomed; booming. Boom box first attested 1978.
- boom (n.1)
- "long pole," 1540s, from Scottish boun, borrowed from Dutch boom "tree, pole, beam," from a Middle Dutch word analogous to Old English beam (see beam (n.)).
- boom (n.2)
- in the business sense, 1873, sometimes said to be from boom (n.1), from the nautical meaning "a long spar run out to extend the foot of a sail" -- a ship "booming" being one in full sail. But it could just as well be from boom (v.) on the notion of "suddenness."
Example
- 1. In 1999 it was the peak of the dotcom boom .
- 2. But that hoped-for export boom could take years to materialize .
- 3. Bad investments during the boom helped undo candover .
- 4. But worrywarts fret that the ingredients of the 1990s productivity boom are missing .
- 5. The property boom reflects the city 's expansion since big bang .