How do you use a bolt from the blue?

  1. The news of his death was a bolt from the blue.
  2. Was this money a bolt from the blue or did you know you were going to get it?
  3. Her dismissal came as a bolt from the blue.
  4. The news of his marriage was a bolt from the blue.
  5. His sudden death came as a bolt from the blue.
  6. The Mishcon job came like a bolt from the blue.

What does a bolt out of the blue mean?

Definition of bolt from the blue

: a complete surprise : something totally unexpected.

How do you use out of the blue?

And my winning ride came out of the blue; you can often win when you are least expecting to. One night, out of the blue, he knocked on my door. One day, out of the blue, he called me. One day, out of the blue, his wife told him that she was no longer in love with him.

What does a blue bolt mean?

A bolt from the blue is a metaphorical phrase referring to a lightning bolt suddenly coming from a clear sky, something you wouldn't expect. The word bolt refers to a lightning bolt (a flash of lightning), and the blue refers to a clear sky (a stormy sky might be grey or black).

Where does the saying a bolt from the blue come from?

An ordinary bow shoots an arrow, but a crossbow shoots a projectile called a bolt. The crossbow had a much longer range than regular bows, and the person who was targeted sometimes couldn't see the shooter, hence, “a bolt from the blue” when the projectile landed.

27 related questions found

What does a fish out of water mean?

A person away from his or her usual environment or activities. For example, Using a computer for the first time, Carl felt like a fish out of water, or On a hiking trail, Nell was a fish out of water. This expression alludes to the fact that fish cannot survive for long on dry land. [ Late 1300s]

What is a bolt from the blue lightning?

A "Bolt from the Blue" is a cloud to ground lightning flash which typically comes out of the back side of the thunderstorm cloud, travels a relatively large distance in clear air away from the storm cloud, and then angles down and strikes the ground.

How do you use blue bolt in a sentence?

It was a bolt from the blue and in this case it affects me. I do not think hostilities have ever been begun except by something rather approaching a bolt from the blue. This latest development came to many of us who are concerned about the problem as a bolt from the blue. That came like a bolt from the blue.

Can lightning strike in a blue sky?

Can lightning strikeout of a blue sky? Yes, almost. Some lightning bolts can appear to hit from a clear blue sky. A “Bolt from the Blue” is a cloud-to-ground lightning bolt, which comes from the side of the thunderstorm cloud and travels through clear air away from the storm, eventually striking the ground.

What happens when a lightning bolt out of the blue occurs?

When an unexpected event happens people describe it as a “bolt from the blue”. The phrase is actually based on real weather phenomena where a lightning bolt will strike an area with no overhead clouds. While bolts from the blue don't originate from blue sky, they occur infrequently, are unexpected, and can be deadly.

How do you say out of blue?

In this page you can discover 9 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for out-of-the-blue, like: unprepared for, unlooked-for, unforeseen, surprising, unanticipated, not predicted, unexpected, unplanned and unexpectedly.

What does under the blue mean?

n. 2 an over-under firearm.

Is it out the blue or blew?

A color that is halfway between green and violet is blue and blew means to let out your breath in a forced manner. The past tense of the word 'blow' is blew, whereas blue is a word that has no tense.

Is a bolt from the blue possible?

A "Bolt from the Blue" is a weather phenomenon that does not occur often. The lightning bolt moves from a thunderstorm cloud to the ground, however it travels long distances through clear air till it strikes the ground.

What does it mean to take a French leave?

Definition of French leave

a departure without ceremony, permission, or notice: Taking French leave, he evaded his creditors.

What does a chip of the old block mean?

Definition of chip off the old block

An expression used of people who closely resemble their parents in some way: “Mark just won the same sailboat race his father won twenty years ago; he's a chip off the old block.”

Is Red lightning real?

Red lightning doesn't exist in the literal sense, according to the National Weather Service. The closest known phenomena is something called a red sprite, which occurs high in the atmosphere “directly above an active thunderstorm,” NOAA says.

Can there be lightning without rain?

What is dry lightning? Dry lightning is lightning that occurs without rain nearby. The NOAA Storm Prediction Center routinely issues forecasts for dry lightning because this kind is more likely to cause forest fires.

What happens when lightning strikes ice?

Ice is Critical to the Lightning Process

The collision of ice and water particles causes separation of the positive and negative electric charges in the particles. Positive charged ice particles tend to collect in the upper parts of the storm, with negative charged particles in the middle and lower parts of the storm.

How do you use call on in a sentence?

We could call on my parents if we have time. We may need to call on professional help. She called on all her reserves of courage to face the ordeal ahead of her.

How do you use once in a blue moon in a sentence?

Examples: "Once in a blue moon I go to the cinema, only when there's a film I really, really want to see." "I'm very careful about what I eat so it's only once in a blue moon I eat fast food."

What is meant by the expression go by?

If you say that time goes by, you mean that it passes. I gradually forgot about him as the years went by.

What is blue lightning called?

A bolt from the blue (sometimes called 'anvil lightning' or 'anvil-to-ground' lightning) is a name given to a cloud-to-ground lightning discharge that strikes far away from its parent thunderstorm.

What do lightning bolts mean?

The bolt of lightning is a traditional symbol of sudden illumination and the destruction of ignorance; it also represents a punishment of humans by the gods from the skies, most commonly attributed to Zeus, king of the gods.

What does sideways lightning mean?

This is typically caused by wind blowing the lightning channel sideways during the exposure. The stronger the wind and closer the lightning strike, the more horizontal displacement will exist on the recorded image.

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