rain forest

noun

Definition of rain forest

1 : a tropical woodland with an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches (254 centimeters) and marked by lofty broad-leaved evergreen trees forming a continuous canopy — called also tropical rain forest

2 : temperate rain forest

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Recent Examples of rain forest from the Web

Most apes, which include gorillas, gibbons, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos, live deep in the rain forest.

— jeffrey gettleman, New York Times, "Smuggled, Beaten and Drugged: The Illicit Global Ape Trade," 4 Nov. 2017
Fossils of mantis shrimp, shark teeth, dinoflagellates and saline-loving bacteria were discovered deep beneath the rain forest.

— jackson landers, Smithsonian, "A Vast and Now Vanished Amazon Sea Is Discovered," 5 May 2017
In Puerto Rico, conservationists are worried about several species of birds and other animals in the island’s El Junque rain forest, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria.

— c. claiborne ray, New York Times, "During Storms, Most Animals Take Shelter. But Some Birds Take Flight.," 13 Oct. 2017
Large bathrooms feel even bigger due to mirrored walls and have showers with three settings (rain forest, jet, and hand-held).

— Condé Nast Traveler, "Le Royal Monceau, Raffles Paris," 20 Oct. 2017
The island was developing a tourism sector based on those rain forests.

— michael holmes, CNN, "Dominica knocked to its knees by Hurricane Maria's might," 20 Sep. 2017
Night after rainy night, he and a team scrambled through the dense rain forest, trying to catch something in the act of building the towers.

— National Geographic, "Watch Baby Spiders Emerge From Mysterious 'Silkhenge' Structures," 15 Dec. 2016
With 170 inches of rain a year — compared with 37 in Seattle — Palmyra also has a dense rain forest where 11 species of seabirds nest.

— christopher pala, New York Times, "Loss of Federal Protections May Imperil Pacific Reefs, Scientists Warn," 30 Oct. 2017
But history is full of powerful entities that caused grave harm in the unchecked pursuit of their goals: logging companies that obliterated rain forests, banks whose complex financial instruments led to global recession.

— ilya sutskever and dario amodei, WSJ, "Protecting Against AI’s Existential Threat," 18 Oct. 2017

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

First Known Use of rain forest

1903

RAIN FOREST Defined for English Language Learners

rain forest

noun

Definition of rain forest for English Language Learners

: a tropical forest that receives a lot of rain and that has very tall trees

RAIN FOREST Defined for Kids

rain forest

noun

Definition of rain forest for Students

: a woodland with a high annual rainfall and very tall trees and that is often found in tropical regions

Learn More about rain forest

Spanish Central: Translation of rain forest Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about rain forest

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rain forest

Definition of rain forest

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First Known Use of rain forest

RAIN FOREST Defined for English Language Learners

rain forest

Definition of rain forest for English Language Learners

RAIN FOREST Defined for Kids

rain forest

Definition of rain forest for Students

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rain forest

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RAIN FOREST Defined for English Language Learners

rain forest

Definition of rain forest for English Language Learners

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rain forest

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