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rain - 10 dictionary results
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rain

  [reyn]
Use rain in a Sentence
–noun
1. water that is condensed from the aqueous vapor in the atmosphere and falls to earth in drops more than 1/50 in. (0.5 mm) in diameter. Compare drizzle (def. 6).
2. a rainfall, rainstorm, or shower: We had a light rain this afternoon.
3. rains, the rainy season; seasonal rainfall, as in India.
4. weather marked by steady or frequent rainfall: We had rain most of last summer.
5. a heavy and continuous descent or inflicting of anything: a rain of blows; a rain of vituperation.
–verb (used without object)
6. (of rain) to fall (usually used impersonally with it as subject): It rained all night.
7. to fall like rain: Tears rained from their eyes.
8. to send down rain: The lightning flashed and the sky rained on us in torrents.
–verb (used with object)
9. to send down in great quantities, as small pieces or objects: People on rooftops rained confetti on the parade.
10. to offer, bestow, or give in great quantity: to rain favors upon a person.
11. to deal, hurl, fire, etc., repeatedly: to rain blows on someone's head.
—Verb phrase
12. rain out, to cause, by raining, the cancellation or postponement of a sports event, performance, or the like: The double-header was rained out yesterday.
—Idiom
13. rain cats and dogs, Informal. to rain very heavily or steadily: We canceled our picnic because it rained cats and dogs.
Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME rein; OE regn, rēn, c. D, G regen, ON regn, Goth rign; (v.) ME reinen, OE regnian

Related forms:
rainless, adjective
rain⋅less⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
10. lavish, shower, pour.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To rain
rain   (rān)   
n.  
    1. Water condensed from atmospheric vapor and falling in drops.
    2. A fall of such water; a rainstorm.
    3. The descent of such water.
    4. Rainy weather.
    5. rains A rainy season.
  2. A heavy or abundant fall: a rain of fluffy cottonwood seeds; a rain of insults.
v.   rained, rain·ing, rains

v.   intr.
  1. To fall in drops of water from the clouds.
  2. To fall like rain: Praise rained down on the composer.
  3. To release rain.
v.   tr.
  1. To send or pour down.
  2. To give abundantly; shower: rain gifts; rain curses upon their heads.
Phrasal Verb(s):
rain outTo force the cancellation or postponement of (an outdoor event) because of rain. Used in passive constructions: The ball game was rained out.

Idiom(s):
rain cats and dogs Informal To rain very heavily.

[Middle English, from Old English regn, rēn.]
rain'less adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Rain

Rain\, n. & v. Reign. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Rain

Rain\, n. [OF. rein, AS. regen; akin to OFries. rein, D. & G. regen, OS. & OHG. regan, Icel., Dan., & Sw. regn, Goth. rign, and prob. to L. rigare to water, to wet; cf. Gr. ? to wet, to rain.] Water falling in drops from the clouds; the descent of water from the clouds in drops.

Rain is water by the heat of the sun divided into very small parts ascending in the air, till, encountering the cold, it be condensed into clouds, and descends in drops. --Ray.

Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain. --Milton.

Note: Rain is distinguished from mist by the size of the drops, which are distinctly visible. When water falls in very small drops or particles, it is called mist; and fog is composed of particles so fine as to be not only individually indistinguishable, but to float or be suspended in the air. See Fog, and Mist.

Rain band (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.

Rain bird (Zo["o]l.), the yaffle, or green woodpecker. [Prov. Eng.] The name is also applied to various other birds, as to Saurothera vetula of the West Indies.

Rain fowl (Zo["o]l.), the channel-bill cuckoo (Scythrops Nov[ae]-Hollandi[ae]) of Australia.

Rain gauge, an instrument of various forms measuring the quantity of rain that falls at any given place in a given time; a pluviometer; an ombrometer.

Rain goose (Zo["o]l.), the red-throated diver, or loon. [Prov. Eng.]

Rain prints (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.

Rain quail. (Zo["o]l.) See Quail, n., 1.

Rain water, water that has fallen from the clouds in rain.

Rain

Rain\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rained; p. pr. & vb. n. Raining.] [AS. regnian, akin to G. regnen, Goth. rignjan. See Rain, n.]

1. To fall in drops from the clouds, as water; used mostly with it for a nominative; as, it rains.

The rain it raineth every day. --Shak.

2. To fall or drop like water from the clouds; as, tears rained from their eyes.

Rain

Rain\, v. t. 1. To pour or shower down from above, like rain from the clouds.

Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. --Ex. xvi. 4.

2. To bestow in a profuse or abundant manner; as, to rain favors upon a person.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : rain
Spanish: lluvia,
German: der Regen,
Japanese: 雨
More Translations »

rain 
O.E. regn, from P.Gmc. *regna- (cf. O.S. regan, O.N. regn, O.Fris. rein, M.Du. reghen, Ger. regen, Goth. rign "rain"), with no certain cognates outside Gmc., unless it is from a presumed PIE *reg- "moist, wet," which may be the source of L. rigare "to wet, moisten" (cf. irrigate). The verb is O.E. regnian, usually contracted to rinan. Transf. and fig. use of other things that fall as rain (blessings, tears, etc.) is recorded from c.1200. Rainbow is O.E. renboga (common Gmc. compound, cf. O.N. regnbogi, Du. regenboog, see bow (n.)). Raindrop is O.E. rendropa; first record of raincheck is from 1884, originally of tickets to rained-out baseball games. Raincoat attested from 1830. Rainmaker first recorded 1775, in ref. to tribal magicians. Phrase to rain cats and dogs is attested from 1738 (variation rain dogs and polecats is from 1652), of unknown origin, despite intense speculation. One of the more idiotic assertions is that it refers to pets sliding off sod roofs when the sod got too wet during a rainstorm. Ever see a cat react to a rainstorm by climbing up on an exposed roof? To rain on (someone's) parade is attested from 1941.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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rain   (rān)  Pronunciation Key 
Water that condenses from water vapor in the atmosphere and falls to Earth as separate drops from clouds. Rain forms primarily in three ways: at weather fronts, when the water vapor in the warmer mass of air cools and condenses; along mountain ranges, when a warm mass of air is forced to rise over a mountain and its water vapor cools and condenses; and by convection in hot climates, when the water vapor in suddenly rising masses of warm air cools and condenses. See also hydrologic cycle.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Rain

There are three Hebrew words used to denote the rains of different seasons, (1.) Yoreh (Hos. 6:3), or moreh (Joel 2:23), denoting the former or the early rain. (2.) Melqosh, the "latter rain" (Prov. 16:15). (3.) Geshem, the winter rain, "the rains." The heavy winter rain is mentioned in Gen. 7:12; Ezra 10:9; Cant. 2:11. The "early" or "former" rains commence in autumn in the latter part of October or beginning of November (Deut. 11:14; Joel 2:23; comp. Jer. 3:3), and continue to fall heavily for two months. Then the heavy "winter rains" fall from the middle of December to March. There is no prolonged fair weather in Palestine between October and March. The "latter" or spring rains fall in March and April, and serve to swell the grain then coming to maturity (Deut. 11:14; Hos. 6:3). After this there is ordinarily no rain, the sky being bright and cloudless till October or November. Rain is referred to symbolically in Deut. 32:2; Ps. 72:6; Isa. 44:3, 4; Hos. 10:12.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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rain

In addition to the idioms beginning with rain, also see come in out of the rain; it never rains but it pours; right as rain.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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