macroburst

M3A1C3R1O1B3U1R1S1T1

noun

A strong downdraft, of over 2.5 miles in diameter, that can cause damaging winds.

OriginEnglish burst ← French macro- ← Ancient Greek μᾰκρός (măkrós) →
Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nounmacroburst (plural macrobursts)

plural macrobursts

  1. climatologyA strong downdraft, of over 2.5 miles in diameter, that can cause damaging winds.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*meh₂ḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*mh₂ḱrós
  3. Proto-Hellenic*makrós
  4. Ancient Greekμᾰκρός (măkrós)
  5. Frenchmacro-
  6. Englishmacro-
  7. Englishburst
  8. Englishmacroburst

From macro- + burst.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish makropurkaus
  • makropurkausstrong downdraft
Turkish makropatlama
  • makropatlamastrong downdraft
Cite this entry
APA

macroburst. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/macroburst

MLA

“macroburst.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/macroburst. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “macroburst,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/macroburst.

Source: macroburst on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.