rainwater
noun
rain·wa·ter
| \ ˈrān-ˌwȯ-tər
, -ˌwä-\
, -ˌwä-\
Definition of rainwater
(Entry 1 of 2)
: water fallen as rain that has not collected soluble matter from the soil and is therefore soft
Rainwater
biographical name
Rain·wa·ter
| \ ˈrān-ˌwȯ-tər
, -ˌwä-\
, -ˌwä-\
Definition of Rainwater (Entry 2 of 2)
L(eo) James 1917–1986 American physicist
Examples of rainwater in a Sentence
Noun
a bucket filled with rainwaterRecent Examples on the Web: Noun
Following a massive earthquake in 2011, three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant suffered meltdowns, causing radioactive water to leak from the reactors and mix with the groundwater and rainwater at the plant. — Fox News, "Fukushima nuclear plant running out of space for radioactive water, TEPCO says," 10 Aug. 2019 One issue is that the sloped Manhattan streets around 115th Street form a natural basin, funneling large amounts of rainwater into the park to create the worst of the flooding, according a master planning document for the park written in 2017. — Sharon Otterman, New York Times, "Flooding in Riverside Park: Good for Ducks. Bad for Amtrak Trains Below?," 21 July 2019 Its roof collects rainwater and a raft of solar panels floating alongside produces 40 percent of the energy the farm needs. — Mike Corder, BostonGlobe.com, "Dutch farm floats possibilities of urban dairy production," 29 June 2019 In addition to the collection basins, the Lawsons save rainwater in a 1,000-gallon system. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Tanks, swales put rainwater to eco-friendly use," 11 July 2019 Its research shows that, despite 99% compliance on paper, only 40% of buildings actually do trap rainwater and store it or inject it into aquifers. — The Economist, "Thirsty Indian cities have a management problem, not a water problem," 4 July 2019 And Stillman added that including flat stones that hold rainwater provides a source of water for butterflies to drink, too. — Karen Zurawski, Houston Chronicle, "Butterfly garden new attraction at Willow Fork Park," 2 July 2019 But streams in this part of the world come and go quickly, so indigenous people built a system of canals and ponds to channel excess rainwater and create groundwater. — Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "Ancient Peruvian engineering could help solve modern water shortages," 24 June 2019 In all, some 14 trillion gallons of rainwater is forecast to fall on Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas during Barry, according to an estimate from BAM Weather meteorologist Ryan Maue. — Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY, "Tracking Tropical Storm Barry: Louisiana coast braces for season's first hurricane," 12 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rainwater.' 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 rainwater
rainwater
noun
English Language Learners Definition of rainwater
: water that falls as rain
See the full definition for rainwater in the English Language Learners Dictionary
rainwater
noun
rain·wa·ter
| \ ˈrān-ˌwȯ-tər
, -ˌwä-\
, -ˌwä-\
Kids Definition of rainwater
: water from rain