rain
14 ENTRIES FOUND:
plural
rains
plural
rains
Britannica Dictionary definition of RAIN
1
:
water that falls in drops from clouds in the sky
—
see also acid rain
[noncount]
-
The weatherman forecasts rain for this afternoon.
-
We could hear the sound of (the) rain on the roof.
-
Everyone went inside when the rain began to fall.
-
He was standing outside in the pouring rain. [=rain falling in large drops and with a lot of force]
-
Take an umbrella with you. It looks like rain. [=the sky looks the way it does when there is going to be rain]
[count]
-
spring/summer rains
-
What the garden needs is a good, soaking rain.
-
A light/heavy rain began to fall.
-
There has been some flooding due to the recent heavy rains.
2
[noncount]
:
weather in which there is a lot of rain
:
rainy weather
-
We've had a week of rain.
3
rains
[plural]
:
large amounts of rain that fall at a particular time of year
-
The rains came and flooded the valley.
4
[singular]
:
a large amount of something falling from above
-
a rain of ash/ashes
(as) right as rain
rain or shine
or come rain, come shine or come rain or come shine
— used to say that something will happen even if it rains
— sometimes used figuratively
-
The party will be on Tuesday, rain or shine.
-
I'll always love you, come rain or come shine. [=I will love you no matter what happens]
— rainless
adjective
2
rain
/ˈreɪn/
verb
rains;
rained;
raining
2
rain
/ˈreɪn/
verb
rains;
rained;
raining
Britannica Dictionary definition of RAIN
1
[no object]
— used with it to say that rain is falling
-
Take an umbrella with you. It's raining. [=rain is falling from the sky]
-
The weatherman said it will rain later this afternoon.
-
It rained all day.
-
It's raining (pretty) hard/heavily. [=there is a lot of rain falling]
-
It's raining lightly. [=there is a small amount of rain falling]
2
always followed by an adverb or preposition,
[no object]
:
to fall from above in large amounts
-
Ashes rained (down) from the volcano.
-
Sparks from the fireworks rained on the field.
3
[+ object]
:
to cause (something) to fall in large amounts
-
The volcano rained ashes on the city.
-
The boxers rained blows/punches on each other. [=the boxers hit each other many times]
be rained out
(US) or British be rained off
:
to be canceled because of rain
-
Today's game was rained out and will be played tomorrow instead.
rain cats and dogs
informal
:
to rain very hard
rain on someone's parade
US, informal
:
to spoil someone's pleasure
-
I don't mean to rain on your parade, but I have some bad news.
when it rains, it pours
(US) informal or chiefly British it never rains but it pours
— used to say that when something bad happens other bad things usually happen at the same time
-
The team not only lost the game but three of its best players were injured. When it rains, it pours.
