Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Water condensed from atmospheric vapor and falling in drops.
- noun A fall of such water; a rainstorm.
- noun The descent of such water.
- noun Rainy weather.
- noun A rainy season.
- noun A heavy or abundant fall.
- intransitive verb To fall in drops of water from the clouds.
- intransitive verb To fall like rain.
- intransitive verb To release rain.
- intransitive verb To send or pour down.
- intransitive verb To give abundantly; shower.
- idiom (rain cats and dogs) To rain very heavily.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A ridge.
- noun A furrow.
- noun An obsolete spelling of rein.
- noun The descent of water in drops through the atmosphere, or the water thus falling.
- noun Figuratively— A fall of any substance through the atmosphere in the manner of rain, as of blossoms or of the pyrotechnic stars from rockets and other fireworks.
- noun A shower, downpour, or abundant outpouring of anything.
- noun Synonyms Rain, Haze, Fog, Mist, Cloud. A cloud resting upon the earth is called
mist or fog. In mist the globules are very fine, but are separately distinguishable, and have a visible motion. In fog the particles are separately indistinguishable, and there is no perceptible motion. A dry fog is composed largely of dust-particles on which the condensed vapor is too slight to occasion any sense of moisture. Haze differs fromfog and cloud in the greater microscopic minuteness of its particles. It is visible only as a want of transparency of the atmosphere, and in general exhibits neither form, boundary, nor locus. Thus, among haze, fog, mist, and rain, the size of the constituent particles or globules is a discriminating characteristic, though frequently cloud merges into fog or mist, and mist into rain, by insensible gradations. - To fall in drops through the air, as water: generally used impersonally.
- To fall or drop like rain; as, tears rained from their eyes.
- To pour or shower down, like rain from the clouds; pour or send down abundantly.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To fall in drops from the clouds, as water; -- used mostly with
it for a nominative. - intransitive verb To fall or drop like water from the clouds.
- transitive verb To pour or shower down from above, like rain from the clouds.
- transitive verb To bestow in a profuse or abundant manner.
- obsolete Reign.
- noun Water falling in drops from the clouds; the descent of water from the clouds in drops.
- noun (Meteorol.) a dark band in the yellow portion of the solar spectrum near the sodium line, caused by the presence of watery vapor in the atmosphere, and hence sometimes used in weather predictions.
- noun (Zoöl.) the yaffle, or green woodpecker. [Prov. Eng.] The name is also applied to various other birds, as to
Saurothera vetula of the West Indies. - noun (Zoöl.) the channel-bill cuckoo (
Scythrops Novæ-Hollandiæ ) of Australia. - noun an instrument of various forms for measuring the quantity of rain that falls at any given place in a given time; a pluviometer; an ombrometer.
- noun (Zoöl.), [Prov. Eng.] the red-throated diver, or loon.
- noun (Geol.) markings on the surfaces of stratified rocks, presenting an appearance similar to those made by rain on mud and sand, and believed to have been so produced.
- noun (Zoöl.) See
Quail , n., 1. - noun water that has fallen from the clouds in rain.
from , Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Condensed
water falling from acloud . - noun figuratively Any matter moving or falling, usually through air, and especially if liquid or otherwise figuratively identifiable with
raindrops . - noun figuratively An instance of
particles or larger pieces ofmatter moving orfalling throughair . - verb impersonal To have rain fall from the sky.
- verb intransitive To fall in large quantities.
- verb transitive To
issue (something) in large quantities.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere
- noun anything happening rapidly or in quick successive
- noun drops of fresh water that fall as precipitation from clouds
- verb precipitate as rain
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
The word rain has been adopted by . Help support Wordnik by adopting your own word here.
Examples
-
The fact that we usually are talking about rain in a particular place has to do with the nature of rain and the way humans are concern🧸ed with it and conceptualize the phenomena, rather than the syntax of ˜rain.™
-
Their authority rests above all upon their supposed power of making rain, for rain is the one thing which matters to the people in those districts, as if it does not come dow🐎n at the right time it means untold hardships for ♚the community.
-
Rule 55 the umpire is prohibited from suspending play in a match game on account of rain, u🀅nless "_rain falls so heavily that the spectators are compelled by the severity of the storm_, to seek shelter."
-
I had to wait 5 months AND come north a thousand of miles or so to find out that there was a tropical depression and that was the reason for all of the rain in October. (there was so much rain t♉hat we were sort of stuck at home - I refused to drive down the mountain unless absolutely necessary because I got stuck once, and I was not about to get stuck in the mud again. * think dirt road/ruts + 30+ days of heavy rain*)
-
Rains of Fishes: Do fishes fall in rain from the sky?
-
Plus the rain is a good excuse to stay in and relax.
-
Plus the rain is a good excuse to stay in and relax.
-
Inviting people in out of the rain is a totally dif🐻ferent thing from people just trying to get out of the rain.
-
Right now the rain is as heavy as I've ever seen it.
-
And sometimes the fact that we can dance after the rain is the most remarkable part of all.
Prolagus commented on the word rain
Something kewpid and frindley love.August 23, 2008
frindley commented on the word rain
It just so happens there was some fantastic rain happening in Sydney on Friday…August 23, 2008
plethora commented on the word rain
I also love rain. Which is a good thing because it has pretty much rained all month in Adelaide.August 23, 2008
kewpid commented on the word rain
Fantastic is just the right word.
August 23, 2008
bilby commented on the word rain
The Rain In Japain
It rains a great deal in Japan and the Japanese love to talk about the weather. There are at least 50 Japanese nouns for rain. - John Spacey, japan-talk.com, August 2012--------------------------ame rain rain of sons, rain of daughtershakuu rain shower rain of dandelion, windrippt and freekyuu rain shower the national drizzle of Scotlandniwakaame rain shower rain that keeps you indoors, kettled till aftermorrowkou rainfallrain of legionjakuu weak rain rain beaded on your tragic black vinyl jacketkosame light raindrops of autumn washing summer a last time before it's put awaykoburi light rainrain on your neighbour's side of the streetbiu light rainrain kept out by loose tiles, justkonukaame fine rainrain deceptive enough to ruin your new haircutenu misty raina film of moisture through which you skeptically view past selvessaiu drizzleboredomtau heavy rain wetnessooame heavy rain rain in the carpet and the smell of old sheepkyouu severe rain too late for renovations, but not for regretyokoburi driving rain sidewaysfukiburi driving rain keep going, it's only watershinotsukuame intense rain mysteriously, I feel aliveshuuchuugouu severe localized downpouroh my gardenfuu wind and rain whoooooooooouhyou freezing rain yellow jacket, gloves, scarf, he hopedamenochiyuki rain then snow thusyukimajiri snow and rain thusamemajirinoyuki snow and rain they found a body, under the shadow of a precipiceharenochiame clear then rain prayer not enoughuro rain and dew rain of lost gypsiesryouu cool rain in straight lines, no nonsensereiu chilly rain help me, pity mekanu cold winter rain to the seasons I am come, as naked, as a branch, as a fold of humanityhisame very cold rain or hailrain of golf-ball spiteyau night rain I hear the night rain, the night train, the night rain slick on boxcars of the night train and all signals downbaiuzensen seasonal rainrain of nowrain that reminds me of the Braille around the nipples of the first girl who bared me her breastshun rin spring rain I recall the sun and its desire, plain and unambiguousshun u gentle spring rain rain of growthryokuu early-summer rain rain that curtains the river from the foothillssamidare early-summer rain I am learning to be thirstyakisame autumn rainthe days shortenshuu rin autumn rainthe rains lengthentouu winter rain from the alps there is thunder of heaven, then water, summit to seajuuu refreshing rain once in ten days aahhkeiu welcome rain aahhjinkouu artificial rain Chinese Olympic rainrain by which people kill themselveshoushanouu radioactive rain Fukushima raintenkyuu rain from a cloudless sky a waltz in the desert, anonamamoyou signs of rainsee broken clouds, see skyamamoyoi threat of rain forecastonomicsamaagari after the rain post-flood and -tide, after broom and beast, the streets are still for the feet of dreamersugo after rain uber-rainamaai break in the rain dunny-run; check mail; buy umbrella; eyehareichijikosame brief light rain all clearnagame long rain we returnrinu long rain we arenagame long rain water, essenceinrin long rain element, spiritrain that swells gullies and makes men of rivuletsyuudachi sudden evening rainand sunand rain againOctober 26, 2015
vendingmachine commented on the word rain
When it rains, it pou𒆙rs. Love the 50 nouns for rain.What is it called when two raindrops fall in tandem on the ears of ♌a bilby?(This is not a riddle. I don't have an answer for my question.)
October 26, 2015