Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A penetrating sandstorm or dust storm with violent winds, occurring chiefly in Arabia, North Africa, and India.
Wiktionary
- n. A violent sandstorm or dust storm in the deserts of Arabia, North Africa, India, or North America.
Etymologies
- Arabic habūb, strong wind, from habba, to rush, blow; see hbb in Semitic roots.
Examples
“Use of the term 'haboob,' which is what such storms have long been in the Middle East, has rubbed some Arizona residents the wrong way.”
“The storm, also known by the Arabic word haboob, also coated anything left outside in a thin layer of fine dirt and left some people who walked outside for a minute or two with grit between their teeth.”
“Who gave you the right to use the word 'haboob' in describing our recent dust storm?”
“April 26, 2006 at 09:09 PM 1. The people in the helicopter laughed when they heard they were in a 'haboob' -- i.e., they did _not_ know about this routine local condition.”
The Inevitability of the Unexpected - The Austrian Economists
“A giant dust storm, known as a haboob, smothered Phoenix, Arizona, in the US, last week.”
“The intense storm, known as a haboob, was caused by outflow winds from a nearby complex of thunderstorms.”
“The AP reports that the massive dust cloud, also known as a "haboob," was around 5,000 feet when it arrived in Phoenix, but radar data reveals that it reached heights anywhere from 8,000 to 10,000 feet high prior.”
The Huffington Post: Phoenix Dust Storm: Arizona Hit With Monstrous 'Haboob' (PHOTOS/VIDEO)
“The dust, also known as a haboob in Arabic and around Arizona, formed in Pinal County and headed northeast, reaching Phoenix at about 5:30 p.m.”
“In early July, a huge sand storm -- dubbed a haboob -- swallowed the Phoenix valley, darkening the streets, sending residents scrambling for cover and cutting power to thousands of homes.”
“Phoenix has been hit by the wall of dust, known as a haboob, on July 5, July 18 and Aug. 19.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘haboob’.
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Of Arabic Origin
Arabic loanwords in English are words acquired directly from Arabic or else indirectly by passing from Arabic into other languages and then into English. Most entered one or more of the Romance lan...
admiral, adobe, albatross, alchemy, alcohol, alcove, alembic, alfalfa, algebra, algorism, algorithm, alidade and 181 more...
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Sand
A nitty-gritty list for words containing sand-, -sand-, or -sand; and apropos terms and phrases. Your contributions are welcome.
sand-blast, sand-jet, greensand, sandpaper, sandlot, sandstorm, sandbar, sandbag, sandwich, sandwort, Cassandra, sandhog and 213 more...
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permanent foreign residents in English
Foreign words and phrases that are perfectly acceptable to use in formal English writing, but still maintain the aura of foreignness. They do not enjoy full citizenship, but remain "alien residents...
prima facie, a priori, a posteriori, avant la lettre, corpus delicti, l'esprit de l'esc..., sans-culotte, memento mori, gesamtkunstwerk, amour propre, guru, deja vu and 25 more...
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Imagical: Words You Should Be Falling Over Your...
Come on, we need a counterbalance...
This has the potential to be the fluffiest list on Wordie.nebula, piglet squid, chinchilla, steering winds, the two towels, haboob, duckling, paradise, rainbow, steampunk, peacock, cthulhu and 11 more...
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Arabic
Wordplayer I've listed this one the most..one of my favorites...
"Watch out! There's a haboob on the horizon and it's looking pretty gnarly!" Feb 8, 2011
bilby The meaning I have in mind is a (Sudanese?) dust storm. Hope I'm right :-7 Nov 20, 2007