rainout

or rain-out

[ reyn-out ]

noun
  1. a contest, performance, or the like, that has been rained out.

  2. Also called washout. the removal of radioactive particles or other foreign substances from the atmosphere by precipitation.

Origin of rainout

1
1945–50, Americanism; noun use of verb phrase rain out

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use rainout in a sentence

  • Blood dropped like rain out of heaven, while jackals howled impatiently, and kites and vultures screamed hungrily for human flesh.

    Indian Myth and Legend | Donald Alexander Mackenzie
  • It had a tight tin roof and a cement-pipe chimney with a cap to keep the rain out.

    Sheila of Big Wreck Cove | James A. Cooper
  • "The boot comes up so high that it keeps the rain out, except from my face," said Mr. Gray.

    Little Frankie on a Journey | Madeline Leslie
  • One is like a man in a prison cell watching the rain out of the window; it is all the same to him.

  • My lads, said Hildebrand, handing them the flask, here is that will keep this pelting rain out of your jackets.

    Hildebrand | Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for rainout

rainout

/ (ˈreɪnˌaʊt) /


noun
  1. radioactive fallout or atmospheric pollution carried to the earth by rain

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with rainout

rainout

Force the cancellation or postponement of some event owing to bad weather. For example, Our picnic was rained out, but we hope to have it next week. [1920s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.