Collocations for cloud - noun

dense, heavy, thick | light | fluffy | cirrus, cumulus | high, low | broken, scattered
skies of broken cloud

fast-moving, scudding | black, dark, grey, white | rain, storm, threatening, thunder
Rain clouds were looming on the horizon.

band, bank, layer, mass, wisp
a layer of high cloud

seed
(= to place a substance in a cloud to make it produce rain)

form, gather, mass
Dark clouds were gathering in the west.

cover sth, envelop sth, obscure sth | break, clear, disperse, lift, part
The clouds broke a little, and the sun came out.

drift, float, hang, hover, loom, move, pass, race, roll, scud, swirl
Thick cloud hung over the moor. | A cloud passed over the sun. | White clouds scudded across the sky.

bank, cover, formation
The cloud cover is quite dense today.

above/below the ~s
flying above the clouds

through the ~s
She could see the sun through the clouds.

a break in the cloud(s), a layer of cloud

great, huge
a great cloud of grey smoke

dense, thick | billowing, swirling | mushroom
the mushroom cloud from a nuclear bomb

dust, radioactive, smoke

~ of
a thick cloud of steam