[reyn] 
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 13. | rain cats and dogs, Informal. to rain very heavily or steadily: We canceled our picnic because it rained cats and dogs. |
| rain (rān) n.
v. intr.
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. |
| 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. |
rain cats and dogs
Also, rain buckets. Rain very heavily, as in It was raining cats and dogs so I couldn't walk to the store, or It's been raining buckets all day. The precise allusion in the first term, which dates from the mid-1600s, has been lost, but it probably refers to gutters overflowing with debris that included sewage, garbage, and dead animals. Richard Brome used a version of this idiom in his play The City Wit (c. 1652), where a character pretending a knowledge of Latin translates wholly by ear, "Regna bitque/and it shall rain, Dogmata Polla Sophon/dogs and polecats and so forth." The variant presumably alludes to rain heavy enough to fill pails.