acid rain

noun

Definition of acid rain

: rain that has increased acidity caused by environmental factors (such as atmospheric pollutants)

Examples of acid rain in a Sentence

trees damaged by acid rain

Recent Examples on the Web

Venus is Earth’s planetary twin, albeit one where something went horribly awry—hence its crushing atmosphere, lead-melting temperatures and sulfuric-acid rains. — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, "Burying CAESAR: How NASA Picks Winners—and Losers—in Space Exploration," 25 July 2019 Del Mar managed to navigate all those feelings and fears without that dark cloud dropping acid rain onto its iconic seaside location. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: Del Mar’s opening day brings heated debate, safe racing," 18 July 2019 But, after reading names and epitaphs while gently scrubbing acid rain and lichen off of centuries-old stones, Gonci said her curiosity grew about the people buried beneath them. — courant.com, "Group Works To Restore Graves At Wall Street Cemetery," 24 June 2019 The lava emission appears to have paused since Wednesday but scientists are warning residents of acid rain, falling ash, and eruptions that could occur Friday and in coming weeks. — Nicole Chavez, CNN, "Trump declares 'major disaster' in Hawaii after volcanic eruptions and lava," 12 May 2018 The vog's sulfuric acid droplets would fall, too -- thus, acid rain. — Jason Hanna, CNN, "Volcanic ashes. Acid rain. And now massive boulders? All the calamities Hawaii is facing," 10 May 2018 Their high sulfur content is also harmful to the environment since sulfur, when mixed with water and air, forms sulfuric acid — the main component of acid rain. — Aditi Shrikant, Vox, "The case against cruises," 15 Nov. 2018 Even lemon juice and orange juice are more acidic than acid rain. — Angela Fritz, Washington Post, "Harmful acid rain in Hawaii? Probably not. The clouds of sulfur dioxide are much worse.," 10 May 2018 But acid rain can contaminate household water supplies by leaching metals from building and plumbing materials, the USGS says. — Jason Hanna, CNN, "Volcanic ashes. Acid rain. And now massive boulders? All the calamities Hawaii is facing," 10 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'acid rain.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.