chain lightning

Chiefly Northeastern and Western U.S. lightning that seems to move very quickly in wavy or zigzag lines.

Origin of chain lightning

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35

A storm-burst of laughter, mingled with shouts of "By jiminy, but he's chain-lightning!"

A Double Barrelled Detective Story |Mark Twain
We have mid-day dinner, which Olie bolts in silence and with the rapidity of chain-lightning.

The Prairie Wife |Arthur Stringer
I never 20 saw such a girl as you are for chain-lightning projects!

The Automobile Girls at Newport |Laura Dent Crane
Anyhow, I found myself riding away straight south as if I were on a streak of chain-lightning.

Track's End |Hayden Carruth

The trenchant manner, the statuesque drapery, the chain-lightning effects, were much as they were afterwards seen in this country.

Is Polite Society Polite? |Julia Ward Howe

chain lightning

another name for forked lightning