Rain is what makes you go running for your umbrella. It's that water that comes down from sky when the dark clouds roll in.

You can also use rain as a verb — as in the expression "Don't rain on my parade," which means don't ruin my good time by giving me bad news. You can also describe anything that comes down quickly and in quantity as something that rains down. On New Year's Eve, confetti rains down in Times Square. If you're unfortunate enough to find yourself in a war zone, you might hear bombs raining down around you.

Definitions of rain

n water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere

show 8 types...
hide 8 types...
any wind that changes direction with the seasons
a storm with rain
cloudburst, deluge, downpour, pelter, soaker, torrent, waterspout
a heavy rain
drizzle, mizzle
very light rain; stronger than mist but less than a shower
rain shower, shower
a brief period of precipitation
equinoctial storm, line storm
a violent rainstorm near the time of an equinox
a short rainstorm accompanied by thunder and lightning
scattering, sprinkle, sprinkling
a light shower that falls in some locations and not others nearby
Type of:
downfall, precipitation

n drops of fresh water that fall as precipitation from clouds

Type of:
fresh water, freshwater
water that is not salty

n anything happening rapidly or in quick successive

“a rain of bullets”
Type of:
chronological sequence, chronological succession, sequence, succession, successiveness
a following of one thing after another in time

v precipitate as rain

“If it rains much more, we can expect some flooding”
rain down
show 6 types...
hide 6 types...
drizzle, mizzle
rain lightly
shower, shower down
rain abundantly
patter, pitter-patter, spatter, spit, sprinkle
rain gently
rain heavily
come down as if in sheets
sluice, sluice down
pour as if from a sluice
Type of:
come down, fall, precipitate
fall from clouds

Sign up, it's free!
