ADJ.

dense, heavy, thick | light | fluffy | cirrus, cumulus | high, low | broken, scattered

skies of broken cloud

| fast-moving, scudding | black, dark, grey, white | rain, storm, threatening, thunder

Rain clouds were looming on the horizon.

QUANT.

band, bank, layer, mass, wisp

a layer of high cloud

VERB + CLOUD

seed

(= to place a substance in a cloud to make it produce rain)

CLOUD + VERB

form, gather, mass

Dark clouds were gathering in the west.

| cover sth, envelop sth, obscure sth | break, clear, disperse, lift, part

The clouds broke a little, and the sun came out.

| drift, float, hang, hover, loom, move, pass, race, roll, scud, swirl

Thick cloud hung over the moor. A cloud passed over the sun. White clouds scudded across the sky.

CLOUD + NOUN

bank, cover, formation

The cloud cover is quite dense today.

PREP.

above/below the ~s

flying above the clouds

| through the ~s

She could see the sun through the clouds.

PHRASES

a break in the cloud(s), a layer of cloud

ADJ.

great, huge

a great cloud of grey smoke

| dense, thick | billowing, swirling | mushroom

the mushroom cloud from a nuclear bomb

| dust, radioactive, smoke

PREP.

~ of

a thick cloud of steam