BOOM

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does boom mean? 

• BOOM (noun)
  The noun BOOM has 5 senses:

1. a deep prolonged loud noise

2. a state of economic prosperity

3. a sudden happening that brings good fortune (as a sudden opportunity to make money)

4. a pole carrying an overhead microphone projected over a film or tv set

5. 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

  Familiarity information: BOOM used as a noun is common.

• BOOM (verb)
  The verb BOOM has 5 senses:

1. make a resonant sound, like artillery

2. hit hard

3. be the case that thunder is being heard

4. make a deep hollow sound

5. grow vigorously

  Familiarity information: BOOM used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BOOM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A deep prolonged loud noise

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

boom; roar; roaring; thunder

Hypernyms ("boom" is a kind of...):

noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))

Derivation:

boom (make a deep hollow sound)

boom (make a resonant sound, like artillery)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A state of economic prosperity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("boom" is a kind of...):

prosperity (an economic state of growth with rising profits and full employment)

Derivation:

boom (grow vigorously)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A sudden happening that brings good fortune (as a sudden opportunity to make money)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

bonanza; boom; bunce; godsend; gold rush; gravy; manna from heaven; windfall

Context example:

the demand for testing has created a boom for those unregulated laboratories where boxes of specimen jars are processed like an assembly line

Hypernyms ("boom" is a kind of...):

happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A pole carrying an overhead microphone projected over a film or tv set

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

boom; microphone boom

Hypernyms ("boom" is a kind of...):

pole (a long (usually round) rod of wood or metal or plastic)

Sense 5

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("boom" is a kind of...):

spar (a stout rounded pole of wood or metal used to support rigging)

Holonyms ("boom" is a part of...):

sailing ship; sailing vessel (a vessel that is powered by the wind; often having several masts)

• BOOM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they boom    ... he / she / it booms   
Past simple: boomed   
Past participle: boomed   
-ing form: booming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a resonant sound, like artillery

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

boom; din

Context example:

His deep voice boomed through the hall

Hypernyms (to "boom" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

Cars boom in the streets
The streets boom with cars

Derivation:

boom (a deep prolonged loud noise)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hit hard

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

blast; boom; nail; smash

Context example:

He smashed a 3-run homer

Hypernyms (to "boom" is one way to...):

hit (deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be the case that thunder is being heard

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

boom; thunder

Context example:

Whenever it thunders, my dog crawls under the bed

"Boom" entails doing...:

storm (blow hard)

Sentence frame:

It is ----ing

Sentence examples:

It was booming all day long
The business is going to boom

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make a deep hollow sound

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

boom; boom out

Context example:

Her voice booms out the words of the song

Hypernyms (to "boom" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

boom (a deep prolonged loud noise)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Grow vigorously

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

boom; expand; flourish; thrive

Context example:

business is booming

Hypernyms (to "boom" is one way to...):

grow (become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "boom"):

revive (be brought back to life, consciousness, or strength)

luxuriate (thrive profusely or flourish extensively)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

The business is going to boom

Derivation:

boom (a state of economic prosperity)

 Context examples 

These crevices could be such a good octopus environment that the booming population is forced to spill over into the dangerously warm region outside.

(Giant group of octopus moms discovered in the deep sea, National Science Foundation)

It reminded me of the great hoot-owl, listening, after its booming cry, for the stir of its frightened prey.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

If you have ever heard a clap of thunder, the boom of fireworks, or the roar of a supersonic jet, you already know how shock waves sound.

(Seeing Shock Waves, EARTH OBSERVATORY)

Here and there they rushed with wild screams and curses, diving under the sail, crouching behind booms, huddling into corners like rabbits when the ferrets are upon them, as helpless and as hopeless.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It occurred to me there was no time to lose, and dodging the boom as it once more lurched across the deck, I slipped aft and down the companion stairs into the cabin.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Storm followed storm, and between the storms there was the silence, broken only by the boom of the surf on the desolate shore, where the salt spray rimmed the beach with frozen white.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Far away we could hear the deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of an hour.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A huge rock, falling from above, boomed past me, struck the path, and bounded over into the chasm.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"We shall have a coalition presently," he boomed, looking from his wife to me and puffing out his enormous chest.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When the outflowing gas collides with previously ejected gas from other stars, the collisions produce shock waves, similar to sonic booms, which permeate the area.

(Scientists Take Viewers to the Center of the Milky Way, NASA)