\ ˈrān
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Definition of rain
(Entry 1 of 2)
rain
verb
rained;
raining;
rains
Definition of rain (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: to send down rain
2
: to fall as water in drops from the clouds
3
: to fall like rain
soot and ash rained down
rain cats and dogs
: to rain heavily
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Synonyms for rain
Synonyms: Noun
cloudburst, deluge, downfall, downpour, rainfall, rainstorm, storm, wet
Synonyms: Verb
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Examples of rain in a Sentence
Noun
The weatherman forecasts rain for this afternoon. Everyone went inside when the rain began to fall. What the garden needs is a good, soaking rain. A light rain began to fall. There has been some flooding due to the recent heavy rains. We've had a week of rain. The rains came and flooded the valley.Verb
Sparks from the fireworks rained on the field. The volcano rained ashes on the city.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
As people gathered at the scene in the rain, family members huddled and cried, and the crowd criticized police for firing their weapons, according to the newspaper. — Katie Mettler, Washington Post, "A man live-streamed his traffic stop. He recorded police fatally shooting him.," 9 Sep. 2019 Nova Scotia could get up to 7 inches of rain in isolated sections, while parts of southeastern New England and Maine could also experience some rainfall. — CBS News, "Hurricane Dorian leaves devastation in North Carolina," 7 Sep. 2019 My mother, sister, and I, as summer residents of Dennis, spent nearly every day at Scargo Lake, even in the rain. — Lauren Gibbons Paul, BostonGlobe.com, "Rediscovering the joys of swimming in a pond," 6 Sep. 2019 At Armstrong School of International Studies in West Rogers Park –– as many blocks north of the city center as the academy is south — Miguel Munoz was dropping off his two children in the rain. — Javonte Anderson, chicagotribune.com, "Teachers, custodians, aides, guards all prep for possible strikes as new school year begins in Chicago Public Schools," 3 Sep. 2019 The new alternate uniform that’s been created for the occasion is supposed to be some sort of camouflage pattern, but looks more like something that got left out in the rain: The Pitt athletic department has undergone a university-wide redesign. — Paul Lukas, SI.com, "Uni Watch College Football Preview 2019," 29 Aug. 2019 Earlier Sunday, tens of thousands of umbrella-carrying protesters marched in the rain. — Kin Cheung, The Denver Post, "Hong Kong police draw guns, arrest 36 in latest protest," 25 Aug. 2019 There is pathos to the civic unrest, to the images of a million umbrellas in the rain. — Matthew Continetti, National Review, "Help Hong Kong by Defending Taiwan," 24 Aug. 2019 There simply is no fingerprint sensing technology that can quickly and reliably read a fingerprint through gloves, heavy moisture (such as in the rain), or heavy dirt (such as when one is working at a dirty job when approached by an attacker). — Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, "Letter: Gun makers have locked up patents on gun safety devices," 22 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Ring particles are steadily raining down onto Saturn. — Vahe Peroomian, The Conversation, "A brief astronomical history of Saturn’s amazing rings," 14 Aug. 2019 As bullets rained down around him, the father of three raced toward danger, lifting strangers who had fallen to the ground and rousing others who were too frozen in fear to run. — Time, "How Likely Is the Risk of Being Shot in America? It Depends," 13 Aug. 2019 Witnesses said the crash caused the plane to explode with plane parts and burning fuel raining down on spectators. — CBS News, "Navy pilot killed in Death Valley crash identified as 33-year-old lieutenant," 2 Aug. 2019 The swarm has been showing up in recent days in Sin City and at times has had the pallid-winged creatures raining down on streets and rooftops. — Dennis Romero, NBC News, "Grasshopper swarm in Las Vegas is so large it likely is showing up on weather radar," 27 July 2019 Once Martinez’s homer landed over the wall, relievers in the Cardinals’ bullpen jumped and down as boos rained down from the crowd of 37,652. — Bobby Nightengale, Cincinnati.com, "Cincinnati Reds collapse in 6th inning, cough up 7-run lead in loss to St. Louis Cardinals," 19 July 2019 The amount of cash that rained down on an Atlanta interstate after an armored truck's door unexpectedly opened. — Doug Criss, CNN, "5 things to know for July 11: Immigration, Iran, Gulf storm, Alex Acosta, climate," 11 July 2019 The low-pressure system rained down on Apalachicola in Florida’s Panhandle on Tuesday and was expected to slowly move westward out and over the top of the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday night, forecasters said. — Tonya Alanez, sun-sentinel.com, "Chances are high for current system to grow into a depression and then a tropical storm," 10 July 2019 There, cooled by radiating heat to space, rock vapor from the moon-forming synestia would have condensed to droplets of magma that rained down into its interior. — Simon J. Lock, Scientific American, "When Earth and the Moon Were One," 2 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rain.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for rain
rain
noun
English Language Learners Definition of rain
(Entry 1 of 2)
: water that falls in drops from clouds in the sky
: weather in which there is a lot of rain : rainy weather
: large amounts of rain that fall at a particular time of year
rain
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of rain (Entry 2 of 2)
—used with it to say that rain is falling
: to fall from above in large amounts
: to cause (something) to fall in large amounts
See the full definition for rain in the English Language Learners Dictionary