1. [n]  a visible mass of water or ice particles suspended at a considerable altitude
2. [n]  any collection of particles (e.g., smoke or dust) or gases that is visible
3. [n]  out of touch with reality; "his head was in the clouds"
4. [n]  suspicion affecting your reputation; "after that mistake he was under a cloud"
5. [v]  make milky or dull; "The chemical clouded the liquid to which it was added"
6. [v]  colour with streaks or blotches of different shades
7. [v]  place under suspicion or cast doubt upon; "sully someone's reputation"
8. [v]  make gloomy or depressed; "Their faces were clouded with sadness"
9. [v]  billow up in the form of a cloud; "The smoke clouded above the houses"
10. [v]  make less visible or unclear; "The stars are obscured by the clouds"
11. [v]  make overcast or cloudy; "Fall weather often overcasts our beaches"

1. \Cloud\ (kloud), n. [Prob. fr. AS. cl[=u]d a rock or
   hillock, the application arising from the frequent
   resemblance of clouds to rocks or hillocks in the sky or
   air.]
   1. A collection of visible vapor, or watery particles,
      suspended in the upper atmosphere.
   
            I do set my bow in the cloud.         --Gen. ix. 13.
   
   Note: A classification of clouds according to their chief
         forms was first proposed by the meteorologist Howard,
         and this is still substantially employed. The following
         varieties and subvarieties are recognized:
      (a) {Cirrus}. This is the most elevated of all the forms
          of clouds; is thin, long-drawn, sometimes looking like
          carded wool or hair, sometimes like a brush or room,
          sometimes in curl-like or fleecelike patches. It is
          the cat's-tail of the sailor, and the mare's-tail of
          the landsman.
      (b) {Cumulus}. This form appears in large masses of a
          hemispherical form, or nearly so, above, but flat
          below, one often piled above another, forming great
          clouds, common in the summer, and presenting the
          appearance of gigantic mountains crowned with snow. It
          often affords rain and thunder gusts.
      (c) {Stratus}. This form appears in layers or bands
          extending horizontally.
      (d) {Nimbus}. This form is characterized by its uniform
          gray tint and ragged edges; it covers the sky in
          seasons of continued rain, as in easterly storms, and
          is the proper rain cloud. The name is sometimes used
          to denote a raining cumulus, or cumulostratus.
      (e) {Cirro-cumulus}. This form consists, like the cirrus,
          of thin, broken, fleecelice clouds, but the parts are
          more or less rounded and regulary grouped. It is
          popularly called mackerel sky.
      (f) {Cirro-stratus}. In this form the patches of cirrus
          coalesce in long strata, between cirrus and stratus.
      (g) {Cumulo-stratus}. A form between cumulus and stratus,
          often assuming at the horizon a black or bluish tint.
          -- {Fog}, cloud, motionless, or nearly so, lying near
          or in contact with the earth's surface. -- {Storm
          scud}, cloud lying quite low, without form, and driven
          rapidly with the wind.
   
   2. A mass or volume of smoke, or flying dust, resembling
      vapor. ``A thick cloud of incense.'' --Ezek. viii. 11.
   
   3. A dark vein or spot on a lighter material, as in marble;
      hence, a blemish or defect; as, a cloud upon one's
      reputation; a cloud on a title.
   
   4. That which has a dark, lowering, or threatening aspect;
      that which temporarily overshadows, obscures, or
      depresses; as, a cloud of sorrow; a cloud of war; a cloud
      upon the intellect.
   
   5. A great crowd or multitude; a vast collection. ``So great
      a cloud of witnesses.'' --Heb. xii. 1.
   
   6. A large, loosely-knitted scarf, worn by women about the
      head.
   
   {Cloud on a} (or the) {title} (Law), a defect of title,
      usually superficial and capable of removal by release,
      decision in equity, or legislation.
   
   {To be under a cloud}, to be under suspicion or in disgrace;
      to be in disfavor.
   
   {In the clouds}, in the realm of facy and imagination; beyond
      reason; visionary.
   
   

2. \Cloud\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Clouded}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Clouding}.]
   1. To overspread or hide with a cloud or clouds; as, the sky
      is clouded.
   
   2. To darken or obscure, as if by hiding or enveloping with a
      cloud; hence, to render gloomy or sullen.
   
            One day too late, I fear me, noble lord, Hath
            clouded all thy happy days on earth.  --Shak.
   
            Be not disheartened, then, nor cloud those looks.
                                                  --Milton.
   
            Nothing clouds men's minds and impairs their honesty
            like prejudice.                       --M. Arnold.
   
   3. To blacken; to sully; to stain; to tarnish; to damage; --
      esp. used of reputation or character.
   
            I would not be a stander-by to hear My sovereign
            mistress clouded so, without My present vengeance
            taken.                                --Shak.
   
   4. To mark with, or darken in, veins or sports; to variegate
      with colors; as, to cloud yarn.
   
            And the nice conduct of a clouded cane. --Pope.
   
   

3. \Cloud\, v. i.
   To grow cloudy; to become obscure with clouds; -- often used
   with up.
   
         Worthies, away! The scene begins to cloud. --Shak.
   
   

The Hebrew so rendered means "a covering," because clouds cover the sky. The word is used as a symbol of the Divine presence, as indicating the splendour of that glory which it conceals (Ex. 16:10; 33:9; Num. 11:25; 12:5; Job 22:14; Ps. 18:11). A "cloud without rain" is a proverbial saying, denoting a man who does not keep his promise (Prov. 16:15; Isa. 18:4; 25:5; Jude 1:12). A cloud is the figure of that which is transitory (Job 30:15; Hos. 6:4). A bright cloud is the symbolical seat of the Divine presence (Ex.29:42, 43; 1 Kings 8:10; 2 Chr. 5:14; Ezek. 43:4), and was called the Shechinah (q.v.). Jehovah came down upon Sinai in a cloud (Ex. 19:9); and the cloud filled the court around the tabernacle in the wilderness so that Moses could not enter it (Ex. 40:34, 35). At the dedication of the temple also the cloud "filled the house of the Lord" (1 Kings 8:10). Thus in like manner when Christ comes the second time he is described as coming "in the clouds" (Matt. 17:5; 24:30; Acts 1:9, 11). False teachers are likened unto clouds carried about with a tempest (2 Pet. 2:17). The infirmities of old age, which come one after another, are compared by Solomon to "clouds returning after the rain" (Eccl. 12:2). The blotting out of sins is like the sudden disappearance of threatening clouds from the sky (Isa. 44:22).

Cloud, the pillar of, was the glory-cloud which indicated God's presence leading the ransomed people through the wilderness (Ex. 13:22; 33:9, 10). This pillar preceded the people as they marched, resting on the ark (Ex. 13:21; 40:36). By night it became a pillar of fire (Num. 9:17-23).