monsoon

nounattested in dialogue

United Kingdom//mɒnˈsuːn//
United States//mɑnˈsuːn//
India//ˈmɔːn.suːn//
India//ˈmɑːn.suːn//

Any of a number of winds associated with regions where most rain falls during a particular season.

noun

1
Any of a number of winds associated with regions where most rain falls during a particular season.
2
Tropical rainy season when the rain lasts for several months with few interruptions.
Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.
3
The rains themselves.
4
Entire meteorological systems with such characteristics.
5
figurativeAny heavy rainstorm.

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese monção and Dutch moesson, from Arabic مَوْسِم (mawsim, “season”), from وَسَمَ (wasama, “to mark, to brand”).

Forms

plural: monsoons

monsieur · A man, especially a French gentleman.Monsieur · Mister, especially in a French context.monsignor · An ecclesiastic title bestowed on some Roman Catholic clerics…

monsoon · Any of a number of winds associated with regions where most rain falls during a particular season.

monster · A terrifying and dangerous creature, especially one of an…Monster · A surname.monstrous · Hideous or frightful.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.