haboob

English

A large dust cloud over the city
A haboob hanging over Phoenix, Arizona.

Etymology

From Arabic هَبُوب (habūb, strong wind), from the root ه ب ب (h-b-b).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /həˈbuːb/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -uːb

Noun

haboob (plural haboobs)

  1. A violent sandstorm or duststorm in the deserts of Arabia, North Africa, India, or North America.
    Coordinate term: duster
    • 2013, Giles Slade, American Exodus: Climate Change and the Coming Flight for Survival, New Society Publishers, →ISBN, page 154:
      Americans used to call these storms “dusters,” but as a sign of increasing globalization, most news outlets now call them by their Gulf Arabic name haboob. [] In Blackwell, Oklahoma 21, 2012, a haboob with a storm front two miles across closed the town and stopped all traffic on I-35 while causing about half a million dollars in damage.

Translations

Further reading

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