Definitions for "St. Elmo's Fire"
See Corposants.
See corona discharge. Also called corposant. This name was given the phenomenon by Mediterranean sailors who regarded it as a visitation of their patron saint, Elmo (Erasmus). An appearance of St. Elmo's fire was regarded as a good omen, for it tends to occur in those latter phases of a violent thunderstorm when most of the surface wind and wave disturbance is over.
an electrical discharge accompanied by ionization of surrounding atmosphere