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Definition of: cloud
(kloud) noun
1. Meteorol. A mass of visible vapor or an aggregation of watery or icy particles, floating in the atmosphere at various heights and exhibiting a large variety of shapes, which partly aid in the determination of weather conditions. In the International Code, clouds have been classified, according to height and typical formation, into four families and ten genera. See table below.
2. Something that darkens, obscures, dims, confuses, or threatens.
3. A dimmed appearance; a spot.
4. Law A defect; blemish: a cloud on a title.
5. A great multitude; a cloudlike mass: a cloud of arrows.
—in the clouds
1. Imaginary; fanciful.
2. Impractical.
—v.t.
1. To cover with or as with clouds; dim; obscure.
2. To render gloomy or troubled.
3. To cover with obloquy or disgrace.
4. To variegate, as marble.
—v.i.
5. To be overcast with or as with clouds. [OE clūd rocky mass, hill]
—cloud′less adjective
—cloud′less·ly adverb
CLOUD TABLE
—INTERNATIONAL CODE
Families: A: high clouds, from 20,000 feet up; B: middle clouds, 6,500–20,000 feet; C: low clouds, near surface to 6,500 feet; D: vertical displacement clouds, 1,600–20,000 feet.| Type | Symbol | Family | Av. ht. miles |
| Altocumulus | Ac | B | 2 1/2 |
| Altostratus | As | B | 3 1/2 |
| Cirrocumulus | Cc | A | 5 |
| Cirrostratus | Cs | A | 6 |
| Cirrus | Ci | A | 7 |
| Cumulonimbus | Cb | D | 4 |
| Cumulus | Cu | D | 2 |
| Nimbostratus | Ns | C | 1/4 |
| Stratocumulus | Sc | C | 1 |
| Stratus | St | C | 1/4 |
The following variations of the International Code are also accepted in the U.S. Weather Bureau procedure: altocumulus castellatus (Acc), cumulonimbus mammatus (Cm), fractocumulus (Fc), and fractostratus (Fs).
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