Definition of 'rain'
Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present
tense rains
, present participle raining
, past tense, past participle rained
1. uncountable noun [oft the NOUN]
Rain is water that falls from the clouds in small drops.
2. plural noun
4. verb
Rain down means the same as
rain.
5. singular noun [NOUN of noun]
6.
7.
See
as right as rain
8.
See
rain or shine
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
rain
Word Frequency
rain in British English
noun
1.
a.
precipitation from
clouds in the form of
drops of water, formed by the
condensation of water
vapour in the
atmosphere
verb
6. (often with it as subject)
to fall or cause to fall like rain
the lid flew off and popcorn rained on everyone
9.
rained off
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
rainless (ˈrainless) adjective
Word origin
Old English regn; related to Old Frisian rein, Old High German regan, Gothic rignWord Frequency
rain in American English
verb intransitive
5.
to fall
said of rain, and usually in an impersonal construction it is raining
6.
to fall like rain
bullets rained about him
7.
to cause rain to fall
said of the heavens, clouds, etc. verb transitive
9.
to give in large quantities
to rain praises on someone
Idioms:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
rainless (ˈrainless)
adjective
Word origin
ME rein < OE regn, akin to Ger regen < IE base *re-, var. of *reĝ-, moist, wet > L rigare, to wet, moisten: see
irrigateExamples of 'rain' in a sentence
rain
These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content.
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Word lists with
rain
Weather phenomenaQuick word challenge
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Question: 1
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Which weather phenomena am I?
a loud cracking or deep rumbling noise caused by the rapid expansion of atmospheric gases which are suddenly heated by lightning
Which weather phenomena am I?
a mass of water or ice particles visible in the sky, usually white or grey, from which rain or snow falls when the particles coagulate
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More idioms containing
rain
Trends of
rain
View usage for:
In other languages
rain
British English: rain
/reɪn/ NOUN
Rain is water that falls from the clouds in small drops.
I hope you didn't get too wet standing out in the rain.
- American English: rain
- Arabic: مَطَر
- Brazilian Portuguese: chuva
- Chinese: 雨
- Croatian: kiša
- Czech: déšť
- Danish: regn
- Dutch: regen
- European Spanish: lluvia
- Finnish: sade
- French: pluie
- German: Regen
- Greek: βροχή
- Italian: pioggia
- Japanese: 雨
- Korean: 비
- Norwegian: regn
- Polish: deszcz
- European Portuguese: chuva
- Romanian: ploaie
- Russian: дождь
- Latin American Spanish: lluvia
- Swedish: regn
- Thai: ฝน
- Turkish: yağmur
- Ukrainian: дощ
- Vietnamese: mưa
British English: rain
/reɪn/ VERB
When rain falls, you can say that it is raining.
It rained all weekend.
- American English: rain
- Arabic: يـَمْطُرُ
- Brazilian Portuguese: chover
- Chinese: 下雨
- Croatian: kišiti
- Czech: pršet
- Danish: regne
- Dutch: regenen
- European Spanish: llover
- Finnish: sataa
- French: pleuvoir
- German: regnen
- Greek: βρέχει
- Italian: piovere
- Japanese: 雨が降る
- Korean: 비가 내리다
- Norwegian: regne
- Polish: padać
- European Portuguese: chover
- Romanian: a ploua
- Russian: идет дождь
- Latin American Spanish: llover
- Swedish: regna
- Thai: ฝนตก
- Turkish: yağmur yağmak
- Ukrainian: дощити
- Vietnamese: mưa
Nearby words of
rain
Source
Definition of rain from the
Collins English Dictionary
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