rain

rain¹ W2S2 [reın] n

[: Old English; Origin: regn]

1.) [U]

water that falls in small drops from clouds in the sky

▪ a night of wind and rain

in the rain

▪ I left my bicycle out in the rain.

heavy/torrential/pouring rain

(=a lot of rain)

▪ There will be heavy rain in most parts of the country.

▪ The light rain had stopped.

▪ a heavy shower of rain

▪ An inch of rain fell in an hour.

▪ As the first drops of rain fell, they ran for cover.

▪ It was pouring with rain (=it was raining very hard) and Laura only had a thin dress on.

▪ It looks like rain (=there are dark rain clouds) , so let's go inside.

→↑acid rain, ↑rain drop, ↑rainy

2.) the rains

heavy rain that falls during a particular period in the year in tropical countries

= ↑monsoon

▪ Last year, the rains came on time in April.

3.) rain of sth

a large number of things falling or moving through the air together

▪ The archers sent a rain of arrows towards the enemy.

4.) (come) rain or shine

spoken whatever happens or whatever the weather is like

▪ Don't worry. We'll be there - rain or shine.

>rainless adj

→right as rain at ↑right¹ (9)

rain ²

rain² v

1.) it rains

if it rains, drops of water fall from clouds in the sky

▪ Outside it was still raining.

▪ It's starting to rain.

rain heavily/hard

▪ It must have rained quite hard last night.

it's raining cats and dogs

spoken (=it is raining very hard)

2.) rain (down) blows/blows rain down

if you rain blows onto someone, you hit them many times

▪ She attacked the man, raining blows on his head and shoulders.

3.) it never rains but it pours

spoken used to say that as soon as one thing goes wrong, a lot of other things go wrong as well

rain down phr v

to fall in large quantities

rain down on

▪ Bombs rained down on the city.

be rained off phr v

if an event or activity is rained off or rained out, it has to stop because there is too much rain

▪ The match was rained off.