Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BOOM, v.i. [Sax. byma, byme, a trumpet; bymian, to blow or sound a trumpet; D. bomme, a drum; bommen, to drum; W. bwmp, a hollow sound. We see the senses of sounding, uttering the voice, swelling and rushing forward, are connected.]

1. In marine language, to rush with violence, as a ship under a press of sail.
2. To swell; to roll and roar, as waves. The hoarse waves booming to the ocean shore. – Hillhouse.
3. To cry as the bittern. – Goldsmith. The Dutch use bom for the sound of an empty barrel, and bommen is to drum.