rain

1 of 2

noun

ˈrān

often attributive

Synonyms of rain next

: water falling in drops condensed from vapor in the atmosphere

: the descent of this water

: water that has fallen as rain : rainwater

: a fall of rain : rainstorm

rains plural : the rainy season

: rainy weather

: a heavy fall

a rain of arrows

rain

2 of 2

verb

rained; raining; rains

intransitive verb

: to send down rain

: to fall as water in drops from the clouds

: to fall like rain

soot and ash rained down

transitive verb

: to pour down

: to give or administer abundantly

rained blows on his head

Phrases

rain cats and dogs

: to rain heavily

Example Sentences

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. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Herbicides should be applied on warm, sunny days when there is little wind and rain is not forecast. —

Mike Hogan, The Enquirer, 28 May 2023 Just be sure your plans are somewhat flexible, as this time period overlaps with hurricane season, which can occasionally bring wind, rain, and potentially more dangerous storms. —

Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 28 May 2023 Memorial Day weekend may mark the unofficial start to summer, but beachgoers in several states are being warned of heavy rain, windy conditions and unhealthy bacterial levels. —

Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY, 27 May 2023 If that’s not enough, this hellscape of a world features perpetual sulfuric acid rain. —

Popular Mechanics, 25 May 2023 The rain fly did a good job of blocking high winds overnight. —

Olivia Avitt, Peoplemag, 24 May 2023 WeatherBELL This looks like the only chance of rain through much of next week in our much drier than average pattern. —

Dave Epstein, BostonGlobe.com, 17 May 2023 Several dry hours are likely in between periods of rain. —

Kxas-tv (nbc5), Dallas News, 14 May 2023 Express forecast Today: Occasional showers or light rain. —

Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 13 May 2023

Verb

May is the ideal time for tying to reach the top of Everest, with clear weather before the monsoon arrives from the south, bringing cloud and snow to the peaks and rain to the low lands. —

Reuters, NBC News, 17 May 2023 In the optical illusion room Acid Rain, visitors stroll through green water that rains spookily upward without getting wet. —

Robin Soslow, Chron, 14 May 2023 Public shelters were open in the densely populated towns around Tel Aviv, where many schools also closed as rockets rained down. —

Hazem Balousha, Washington Post, 10 May 2023 The Eta Aquariid meteor shower is an annual phenomenon in which debris from the famous Halley’s Comet rains down into Earth’s atmosphere. —

Jackie Wattles, CNN, 9 May 2023 Why the gunman rained bullets over the Las Vegas Strip in 2017, turning a country music festival into a bloodbath. —

Stefanie Dazio And Larry Fenn, BostonGlobe.com, 8 May 2023 Many companies are cutting costs and raining cash on stock pickers like Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, who believe the world’s thirst for oil will continue for years, if not decades, to come. —

David Uberti, wsj.com, 8 May 2023 And in a magnitude 6.3 quake that hit Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2011, falling bricks rained onto Red Bus No. 702, killing eight people, including the driver. —

Rong-gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2023 Oregon’s wet April rained more than water Tuesday night, when 38-year-old Colin Davis McCarthy threw handfuls of $100 bills outside his car window on Interstate 5 in Eugene, according to Oregon State Police. —

oregonlive, 14 Apr. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.