Beyond physical lightning that all of you probably associate with this word, I just learned that fulgurating can also mean very sharp, lancinate instances of pain, something recently on my mind since a close relative went through an episode with gallstones.

Anyway, I thought you might be interested in learning that fulgurating not only covered physical lightning, but lightninglike intances of sharp pain.

I worked in a fire assay lab for 17 years where the term fulguration is sometimes heard. Fire assay is an ancient method for precious metals analysis. It’s a small scale refining procedure. In the metals assay community, the more common term for the phenomenon is blick. It describes the brief flash of light (latent heat of fusion) given off by the precious metal bead (the glob of metal that is the final product of fire assay) as the last bit of lead oxide and other flux constituents are oxidized and absorbed away from the bead. Sometimes I would peek into the furnace to view the blick which was often preceded by a vigorous and beautiful swirling of colors on the bead's surface. This was the very last thin layer of lead oxide. Perhaps norgatem has affected the efflux of lead from some hapless fire assayers’ cells. (Did I use that correctly?)

There is a wealth of vocabulary, O'b, in your paragraph of having worked in a 'fire assay lab'. Blick = fulguration here, in the flash of light sense, yes?

Yes. A dynamic and wonderous vision, that blick, but perhaps only to a long time labrat such as I.
"...a wealth of..." meaning Gold, Silver, Platinum..?

Coming, I'm guessing, from the German blick which we know as blink; if I remember my German from almost 40 years ago the word augenblick means blink of an eye.

Der flüchtige Blick
It happens just that quickly. An apt description, I feel, for an overt display of the wonder of physics.

Will you please translate the German phrase, OwlB? Thanks!

Der flüchtige Blick == glimpse (literally fleeting glance) ...

Thank you, jheem. It is a lovely phrase, isn't it.

It is a lovely phrase, isn't it.

Poetic.

This was a new word to me, Wordwind--thank you. So--if there is lightning going on, would I say, "It's fulgurating" or "The sky is fulgurating"?
Thanks for the info. on blick, too, you-all.