simoom

noun

Etymology: From Arabic سَمُوم (samūm, “hot wind”), from سَمَّ (samma, “to poison”).

1. A hot, dry, suffocating, dust-laden wind of the desert, particularly of Arabia, Syria, and neighboring countries, generated by the extreme heat of the parched deserts or sandy plains.

   “The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.”

   “Stephen's heart had withered up like a flower of the desert that feels the simoom coming from afar.”