[f. as prec. + -ING2.]
1. Making a deep hollow reverberating sound.
1626. B. Jonson, Masques, Wks. 1692, 647. Bombing sighs.
1762–9. Falconer, Shipwr., II. 552. O’er The sea-beat ship the booming waters roar.
1853. Kane, Grinnell Exp., xxxii. (1856), 279. One wild, booming, agonized note, made up of a thousand discords.
2. Of business, etc.: Flourishing, advancing on a tide of prosperity. (See BOOM v.3) U.S.
1879. Lumberman’s Gaz., 29 Oct. Salt is ‘booming,’ as it has been all the season. Ibid., 12 Nov. New life and energy has been infused into all channels of business—things are booming.
1883. Leis. Ho., 283/1. Pueblo is the very centre of South Colorado traffic, and certainly booming.
