rain

play

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 rains plural :the rainy season

3 :rainy weather

4 :a heavy fall

a rain of arrows

See rain defined for English-language learners

See rain defined for kids

Examples of rain in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of rain from the Web

Still, the reprieve from the rain in Houston was welcome.

— chicagotribune.com, "Harvey floods evacuee shelter in Port Arthur as storm makes second landfall in Louisiana," 30 Aug. 2017
As former hurricane Harvey heads this way with potentially heavy rain, some Northern Kentucky football games are being rescheduled.

— james weber, Cincinnati.com, "Harvey forces changes in high school football schedules," 30 Aug. 2017
Niamey, Niger (AP) -- Niger's government says torrential rains have killed at least 44 people in the capital and other parts of the West African country.

— Bloomberg.com, "Niger Rains Kill More Than 40 in and Around Capital," 29 Aug. 2017
National Hurricane Center After a week of heavy rain, Florida started to dry out.

— jenny staletovich, miamiherald, "Tropical system that drenched Florida is headed up Carolina coast," 29 Aug. 2017
Paul Nester, also from the extension service, tells Katherine Shilcout at Houstonia magazine that anyone venturing into the flood waters should wear rubber boots, cuffed gloves and protective rain gear so ants can’t get on their skin.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Another Danger of the Harvey Flood: Floating Fire Ants," 29 Aug. 2017
To the south, the National Hurricane Center was forecasting 3 to 6 inches of rain and perhaps up to 9 in parts of the Carolinas and Virginia.

— anthony r. wood, Philly.com, "Irma, Jose brewing in the Atlantic as Harvey drenches Gulf coast," 28 Aug. 2017
At least two have died from the storm, and Houston mayor Sylvester Turner announced the wind and rain is expected to last at least four to five more days.

— lindsay schallon, Glamour, "This Emotional Video Captures a Reporter Aid in Texas Flooding Rescue Effort," 27 Aug. 2017
Expert fix: Look for SPF 50 or higher to keep skin protected daily — rain or shine, beach or office.

— nicole catanese, Cosmopolitan, "The 8 Most Annoying Skin Problems Every Girl Deals With," 24 Aug. 2017

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.

Origin and Etymology of rain

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

rain Synonyms

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

rain

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

See rain defined for English-language learners

Examples of rain in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of rain from the Web

University of Houston Welcome Week at the University of Houston is getting rained out — literally.

— susannah hutcheson, USA TODAY College, "How Texas colleges are bracing for Hurricane Harvey," 24 Aug. 2017
Last Saturday, as thousands gathered for rallies on the Boston Common, the New Haven woman saw a man wearing a Trump t-shirt ringed by hundreds of counter protestors raining taunts, hisses and spraying Silly String.

— matt ormseth, courant.com, "During Angry Rally, A New Haven Woman Finds Courage," 23 Aug. 2017
Aron Marrujo was playing in the frontyard of a friend’s house when paintballs began raining from a passing car.

— cindy chang, latimes.com, "Paintball attacks have nearly tripled in past year, LAPD says," 19 Aug. 2017
Miller said officials thought all of the fluids were removed, but rains today forced more down the drain, which runs behind residences.

— christina hall, Detroit Free Press, "Sludge lingers in drain behind Clinton Township homes," 15 Aug. 2017
It was perhaps designed as a pre-emptive strike against the type of reviews that inevitably rain down on a band that has moved past critical darling phase into mid-career stasis.

— patrick cooley, cleveland.com, "'The X-Files' 11th season to have fewer mythology episodes: Why that's a good thing," 9 Aug. 2017
Staten Island’s Monday game with Connecticut was rained out, however, and the IronBirds loss dropped Aberdeen to 27-20.

— allan vought, The Aegis, "IronBirds drop second straight by one run Monday, return home half game out of first," 7 Aug. 2017
Two people were freed shortly after TV footage showed a military-type vehicle smashing its way through the wall, raining bricks onto its hood.

— crimesider staff, CBS News, "Man claiming to have bomb in Georgia bank dies after police standoff," 7 July 2017
In the Himalayas, rains from the annual monsoon season have also been found to affect quake frequency.

— warren cornwall, Science | AAAS, "Shifting water weight can trigger small earthquakes in California," 15 June 2017

First Known Use of rain

before 12th century

rain Synonyms

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 Defined for English Language Learners

rain

play

noun

Definition of rain for English Language Learners

: water that falls in drops from clouds in the sky
: weather in which there is a lot of rain : rainy weather
rains : large amounts of rain that fall at a particular time of year

rain

verb

Definition of rain for English Language Learners

—used with it to say that rain is falling
: to fall from above in large amounts
: to cause (something) to fall in large amounts

RAIN Defined for Kids

rain

play

noun \ ˈrān \

Definition of rain for Students

1 :water falling in drops from the clouds

2 :a fall of water in drops from the clouds

3 :rainy weather

“Are you going to sleep out in all this rain?”
—E. B. White, Stuart Little

4 :a heavy fall of objects

Headscratcher for rain

Rain, reign, and rein all sound alike but have different meanings. Rain is the water that falls from the sky. A reign is the rule of a king or queen. A rein is a strap used to control an animal, such as a horse.

rain

verb

Definition of rain for Students

rained; raining

1 :to fall as water in drops from the clouds

2 :to send down rain

The clouds rained for days.

3 :to fall in large amounts

Ashes rained from the volcano.

4 :to give in large amounts

Friends rained advice on me.

— rain cats and dogs

:pour 2

Learn More about rain

See words that rhyme with rain Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for rain Spanish Central: Translation of rain Nglish: Translation of rain for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of rain for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about rain

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rain

Definition of rain

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Examples of rain in a Sentence

Recent Examples of rain from the Web

Origin and Etymology of rain

rain Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

Other Climate/Meteorology Terms

rain

Definition of rain

Examples of rain in a Sentence

Recent Examples of rain from the Web

First Known Use of rain

rain Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

RAIN Defined for English Language Learners

rain

Definition of rain for English Language Learners

rain

Definition of rain for English Language Learners

RAIN Defined for Kids

rain

Definition of rain for Students

Headscratcher for rain

rain

Definition of rain for Students

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