rain

noun, often attributive

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\ ˈrān

Definition of rain

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : water falling in drops condensed from vapor in the atmosphere

b : the descent of this water

c : water that has fallen as rain : rainwater

2a : a fall of rain : rainstorm

b rains plural : the rainy season

3 : rainy weather

4 : a heavy fall a rain of arrows

rain

verb

rained; raining; rains

Definition of rain (Entry 2 of 2)

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

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about rain

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Examples of rain in a Sentence

Noun The weatherman forecasts rain for this afternoon. Everyone went inside when the rain began to fall. What the garden needs is a good, soaking rain. A light rain began to fall. There has been some flooding due to the recent heavy rains. We've had a week of rain. The rains came and flooded the valley. Verb Sparks from the fireworks rained on the field. The volcano rained ashes on the city.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Snowfall will likely mix or turn into freezing rain later today, but not before about 1 to 3 inches of accumulation, according to a Winter Weather Advisory for northwestern Harford County and other parts of Maryland. — Aegis Staff, baltimoresun.com, "About 1-3 inches of snow expected in northern Harford County today," 22 Feb. 2021 The region has seen all that Old Man Winter has to offer, from snow to sleet to freezing rain. — Washington Post, "Another stellar weekend of Mid-Atlantic skiing," 19 Feb. 2021 This will be an all-snow situation everywhere except on Cape Cod, where there could be some mixing with sleet or freezing rain. — Dave Epstein, BostonGlobe.com, "Snow will begin falling late Thursday," 18 Feb. 2021 Snow or possibly freezing rain is possible in the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge and Hood River valley areas. — oregonlive, "Portland metro Thursday weather: Valley rain; snow likely in Columbia River Gorge," 18 Feb. 2021 Over 400,000 customers in Texas still had no power and millions of residents were under a boil-water notice on Thursday as another winter storm pounded covered much of the U.S. with snow, freezing rain and extreme cold. — Jaewon Kang, WSJ, "Cold Weather Hobbles Auto Makers, Texas Restaurants and Grocers," 18 Feb. 2021 Mitchell said areas to the south such as Akron received some sleet and freezing rain overnight, making for possible ice. — Cameron Fields, cleveland, "OH Weather: National Weather Service cancels winter storm warning for Northeast Ohio as snow trickles out," 16 Feb. 2021 The storm was part of a large weather system that brought snow, sleet and freezing rain to the southern Plains and was spreading across the Ohio Valley and to the Northeast. — Democrat-gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, "Winter clobbers much of nation," 16 Feb. 2021 Meanwhile, the Great Lakes and Northeast are forecast to receive yet more snow and freezing rain. — Brett Molina, USA TODAY, "Winter weather: How to keep dogs safe in frigid temperatures (and how much it will cost)," 16 Feb. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb But the rainfall is not expected to be heavy, and not everyone will see rain each day. — Dallas News, "One more cold night, then back to warmth," 21 Feb. 2021 Even if someone tries to rain on your parade, your irrepressible friendliness should act as an umbrella. — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, "Horoscope for Dec. 31, 2020: Happy birthday Bebe Neuwirth; Capricorn, invent new traditions," 31 Dec. 2020 Don't pay attention to any naysayers who want to rain on your parade. — Tarot Astrologers, chicagotribune.com, "Daily horoscope for December 22, 2020," 22 Dec. 2020 The character has these ferocious riffs that build toward a confrontation with God for allowing so much injustice to rain down on Black people. — Dallas News, "In a year of losses, something gained: How theater was artfully brought to the screen," 11 Dec. 2020 There's a morbid cloud of stats to rain on our parade. — Jasmine Vaughn-hall, USA TODAY, "This Is America: I'm Black. I'm married. And systemic racism is making me rethink having kids.," 19 Nov. 2020 But, Rohling said, American soldier know-how can't rain down from the sky. — Abraham Mahshie, Washington Examiner, "US Army Africa commander explains why troops are needed in Somalia," 2 Nov. 2020 Armenians huddle in a basement as Azerbaijani rockets rain down upon the city of Stepanakert. — Daniel Sneider, The Christian Science Monitor, "Nagorno-Karabakh: A reporter’s regretful recollections," 26 Oct. 2020 Snow will start to fall from around 10 a.m. to noon in the Baltimore area and transition to rain as the temperature rises between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., before turning back into snow Wednesday evening, according to the forecast. — Christine Condon, baltimoresun.com, "Maryland weather: Heavy, wet snow in the forecast for Baltimore on Wednesday; totals will depend on storm track," 15 Dec. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rain.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.