Simoom

Pronunciation

• RP enPR: sÄ­moÍžomʹ; IPA: /sɪˈmuːm/

Origin

Arabic سموم (samūm, "hot wind"), from سم (sámma, "to poison").

Full definition of simoom

Noun

1. A hot, dry, suffocating, dust-laden wind of the desert, particularity of Arabia, Syria, and neighboring countries, generated by the extreme heat of the parched deserts or sandy plains.
• 1892, James Yoxall, The Lonely Pyramid Chapter 5, The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.
• 1916, James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Macmillan Press Ltd, paperback, p.101)Stephen's heart had withered up like a flower of the desert that feels the simoom coming from afar.