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I was taught a word thunderhead means "cumulonimbus" in American English. However, Several speakers said they didn't use the word when I asked it on chat. It seems that the word certainly appears in corpus.
Do you use, or know this word? Do you know where, or by what kind of people it's used? Am I correct with its meaning?
cumulonimbus is generally used in a technical discussion of the weather. We learned it in school in science lessons, but nowadays ???
I don't think many people would point up at a cloud and call it cumulonimbus.
"thundercloud" could be used if you are on the ground pointing at it, but I think it is more likely one would use "thunderstorm":
There is a thunderstorm coming.
Than looks like a really bad thunderstorm.
As for thunderhead, I would use this if I were on the ground and could see the cloud all the way to the top, or if I were in an airplane flying (at high altitude) near one.
(AmE disclaimer)
