Definition

1. Noun:

   • Precipitation: Water that falls in drops from clouds in the atmosphere.
   • A fall or shower of objects: A large, rapid quantity of things falling or occurring in quick succession.

2. Verb:

   • To fall as water from the clouds: (Used with "it" as the subject) To have water drops fall from the sky as precipitation.
   • To fall or send down abundantly: To cause a large quantity of something to fall or descend rapidly.

Usage and Examples

• Noun:

  • The rain made the streets slick. (The falling water made the streets slippery.)
  • A sudden rain of confetti fell from the ceiling. (A quick shower of confetti descended.)
  • He faced a rain of criticism. (He faced a large, rapid amount of criticism.)

• Verb:

  • It will rain all afternoon. (Water will fall from the sky all afternoon.)
  • The tower rained debris onto the street below. (The tower caused debris to fall abundantly onto the street.)
  • Fans rained cheers upon the team. (Fans sent down a great quantity of cheers.)

Advanced Usage

• "rain or shine": Regardless of the weather or circumstances; whatever happens.
  • The event will proceed, rain or shine. (The event will happen whether it rains or is sunny.)
• "right as rain": Perfectly fine, healthy, or correct.
  • After a good night's sleep, I felt right as rain. (I felt completely well again.)
• "to rain on someone's parade": To spoil someone's plans or dampen their enthusiasm.
  • I don't want to rain on your parade, but have you considered the cost? (I don't want to spoil your excitement, but...)

Variants and Related Words

• Rainy (adj): Characterized by or having a lot of rain.
  • We packed for a rainy day. (We prepared for a day with bad weather.)
• Rainfall (n): The total amount of rain that falls in a particular area during a specific time.
  • The annual rainfall is measured in inches.
• Raindrop (n): A single drop of rain.
  • A raindrop landed on her nose.

Synonyms

• Noun (precipitation): Downpour, shower, drizzle, precipitation.
• Verb (to fall as rain): Pour, shower, drizzle.
• Verb (to send down): Shower, hail, pelt.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Rain down (on/upon): To fall or be sent down in large quantities.
  • Ash rained down from the erupting volcano. (Ash fell abundantly.)
• Rain off/out (chiefly passive): To cause an event to be canceled or stopped because of rain.
  • The baseball game was rained out. (The game was canceled due to rain.)

Related Idioms

• "It's raining cats and dogs": It is raining very heavily.
  • We can't go out now; it's raining cats and dogs!
• "Save for a rainy day": To save money or resources for a time of future need.
  • It's wise to save a portion of your income for a rainy day.
• "Come rain or come shine": A variant of "rain or shine," meaning no matter what happens.
  • He jogs every morning, come rain or come shine.

Noun

1. anything happening rapidly or in quick successive
   • a rain of bullets
   • a pelting of insults
2. drops of fresh water that fall as precipitation from clouds
3. water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere

Verb

1. precipitate as rain
   • If it rains much more, we can expect some flooding