rain

¹rain

noun, often attributive \ˈrān\

Definition of RAIN

1

a : water falling in drops condensed from vapor in the atmosphere

b : the descent of this water

c : water that has fallen as rain : rainwater

2

a : a fall of rain : rainstorm

b plural : the rainy season

3

: rainy weather

4

: a heavy fall <a rain of arrows>

Examples of RAIN

1. The weatherman forecasts rain for this afternoon.
2. Everyone went inside when the rain began to fall.
3. What the garden needs is a good, soaking rain.
4. A light rain began to fall.
5. There has been some flooding due to the recent heavy rains.
6. We've had a week of rain.
7. The rains came and flooded the valley.

Origin of RAIN

Middle English reyn, from Old English regn, rēn; akin to Old High German regan rain

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to RAIN

Synonyms

cloudburst, deluge, downfall, downpour, rainfall, rainstorm, storm, wet

Related Words

precipitation, shower; thundershower, thunderstorm, weather

Near Antonyms

drizzle, mist, mizzle, scud, spit, sprinkle

Other Climate/Meteorology Terms

monsoon, occlusion, ozone, rime, squall, zephyr

Rhymes with RAIN

ain, Aisne, ane, Bain, bane, blain, brain, cane, chain, crane, deign, drain, fain, fane, feign, gain, grain, Kane, lane, Lane, main, mane, pain, Paine, pane, plain, plane, quean, reign, rein, sain, sane, seine, Seine, skein, Spain, sprain, stain, strain, swain, thane, thegn, train, twain, Twain, vain, vane, vein, wain, wane, Wayne

²rain

verb

Definition of RAIN

intransitive verb

1

: to send down rain

2

: to fall as water in drops from the clouds

3

: to fall like rain <soot and ash rained down>

transitive verb

1

: to pour down

2

: to give or administer abundantly <rained blows on his head>

— rain cats and dogs

: to rain heavily

Examples of RAIN

1. Sparks from the fireworks rained on the field.
2. The volcano rained ashes on the city.

First Known Use of RAIN

before 12th century

Related to RAIN

Synonyms

pour, precipitate, storm, rain cats and dogs

Related Words

shower; spit; hail, rainsquall, squall; deluge, drown, engulf, flood, inundate, swamp

Near Antonyms

drizzle, mist, mizzle, spit, sprinkle

rain

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Precipitation of liquid water drops with diameters greater than 0.02 in. (0.5 mm). When the drops are smaller, the precipitation is usually called drizzle. Raindrops may form by the coalescence of colliding small water droplets or from the melting of snowflakes and other ice particles as they fall into warm air near the ground. Hawaii's Mount Waialeale, with a 20-year annual average of 460 in. (11,700 mm), is the Earth's wettest known point; the driest areas are in parts of deserts where no appreciable rain has ever been observed. Less than 10 in. (250 mm) and more than 60 in. (1,500 mm) per year represent approximate extremes of rainfall for all the continents.