Word for the day: rain

rain /reɪn/                                                              *lluvia (en Español)

 
DEFINITION
noun
moisture condensed from the atmosphere that falls visibly in separate drops: the rain had not stopped for days | it's pouring rain.• (rains) falls of rain: the plants were washed away by some unusually heavy rains.• [ in sing. ] a large or overwhelming quantity of things that fall or descend: he fell under the rain of blows.

verb [ no obj. ] (it rains, it is raining, etc.)
rain falls: it was beginning to rain.• literary (of the sky, the clouds, etc.) send down rain.• [ with adverbial of direction ] (of objects) fall in large or overwhelming quantities: bombs rained down.• [ with obj. ] (it rains ——, it is raining ——, etc.) used to convey that a specified thing is falling in large or overwhelming quantities: it was just raining glass.• [ with obj. ] send down in large or overwhelming quantities: she rained blows onto him.
PHRASESbe as right as rain(of a person) be perfectly fit and well.when it rains it pours.rain cats and dogsrain very hard.[origin uncertain; first recorded in 1738, used by Jonathan Swift, but the phrase rain dogs and polecatswas used a century earlier in Richard Brome's The City Witt.]rain on someone's parade informal prevent someone from enjoying an occasion or event; spoil someone's plans.( come ) rain or shinewhether it rains or not: he runs six miles every morning, rain or shine.
PHRASAL VERBSbe rained out(of an event) be terminated or canceled because of rain: the tournament was rained out.DERIVATIVESrainless adjective
ORIGIN Old English regn(noun), regnian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch regen and German Regen .

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