Library / English Dictionary

RAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Anything happening rapidly or in quick successive

Example:

a pelting of insults

Synonyms:

pelting; rain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("rain" is a kind of...):

chronological sequence; chronological succession; sequence; succession; successiveness (a following of one thing after another in time)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere

Synonyms:

rain; rainfall

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("rain" is a kind of...):

downfall; precipitation (the falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist))

Meronyms (parts of "rain"):

raindrop (a drop of rain)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rain"):

monsoon (any wind that changes direction with the seasons)

rainstorm (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)

Derivation:

rain (precipitate as rain)

rainy ((of weather) wet by periods of rain)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Drops of fresh water that fall as precipitation from clouds

Synonyms:

rain; rainwater

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("rain" is a kind of...):

fresh water; freshwater (water that is not salty)

Derivation:

rain (precipitate as rain)

rainy ((of weather) wet by periods of rain)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Precipitate as rain

Example:

If it rains much more, we can expect some flooding

Synonyms:

rain; rain down

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Hypernyms (to "rain" is one way to...):

come down; fall; precipitate (fall from clouds)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "rain"):

drizzle; mizzle (rain lightly)

shower; shower down (rain abundantly)

patter; pitter-patter; spatter; spit; sprinkle (rain gently)

pelt; pour; rain buckets; rain cats and dogs; stream (rain heavily)

Sentence frames:

It is ----ing
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

It was raining all day long

Derivation:

rain (water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere)

rain (drops of fresh water that fall as precipitation from clouds)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The poor horse was very melancholy, and wandered up and down in the wood, seeking some little shelter from the cold wind and rain.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

"For," he said, "if I should get caught in the rain, and rust again, I would need the oil-can badly."

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

It was the rain that helped me.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is easy to see from thy cheek that thou hast not spent thy days in the rain and the heat and the wind, as my poor Wat hath been forced to do.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There was rain about that time, and his death had certainly been before the rain.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There are so many happy surprises that are about to rain down on you this month!

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Everybody heard it and knew; and Cheese-Face knew, rushing like a tiger in the other's extremity and raining blow on blow.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He stood up and then sat down again, and the tears rained down his cheeks.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The snow turned into a cold rain.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Had it been raining all evening?

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)