I do set my bow in the cloud. Gen. ix. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A mass or volume of smoke, or flying dust, resembling vapor. “A thick cloud of incense.” Ezek. viii. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A great crowd or multitude; a vast collection. “So great a cloud of witnesses.” Heb. xii. 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A large, loosely-knitted scarf, worn by women about the head. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To darken or obscure, as if by hiding or enveloping with a cloud; hence, to render gloomy or sullen. [ 1913 Webster ]

One day too late, I fear me, noble lord,
Hath clouded all thy happy days on earth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Be not disheartened, then, nor cloud those looks. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nothing clouds men's minds and impairs their honesty like prejudice. M. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To blacken; to sully; to stain; to tarnish; to damage; -- esp. used of reputation or character. [ 1913 Webster ]

I would not be a stander-by to hear
My sovereign mistress clouded so, without
My present vengeance taken. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To mark with, or darken in, veins or sports; to variegate with colors; as, to cloud yarn. [ 1913 Webster ]

And the nice conduct of a clouded cane. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Worthies, away! The scene begins to cloud. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

A scudding cloudage of shapes. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

So vanished my cloud-built palace. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]