by thunder

adverb

Used for emphasis, sometimes with a threatening implication.

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Meanings

adverbby thunder (not comparable)
  1. not comparableUsed for emphasis, sometimes with a threatening implication.

    "Have it out with him to-night. Fair and square. Out he goes, Edmund, neck and crop. Out, by thunder."

    1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 76
    2 more examples

    "Mr. Pillow, Sir, none of your impertinence, or I will chastise you as well as this fellow." "That's a two handed game, by thunder," said Long Tom, "[…] I dare you to deadly combat. […]"

    1849, Masonic Signet and Literary Mirror, volume 1, page 379

    'Shocking business ... shocking ... miracle none of them died ... never heard the like ... by thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape ...'

    1999, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 283

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
wow
Cite this entry
APA

by thunder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20thunder

MLA

“by thunder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20thunder. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “by thunder,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20thunder.

Source: by thunder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.