'Rain' definitions:

Definition of 'rain'

(from WordNet)
noun
Water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere [syn: rain, rainfall]
noun
Drops of fresh water that fall as precipitation from clouds [syn: rain, rainwater]
noun
Anything happening rapidly or in quick successive; "a rain of bullets"; "a pelting of insults" [syn: rain, pelting]
verb
Precipitate as rain; "If it rains much more, we can expect some flooding" [syn: rain, rain down]

Definition of 'Rain'

From: GCIDE
  • Rain \Rain\ (r[=a]n), n. & v. Reign. [Obs.] --Spenser. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Rain'

From: GCIDE
  • Rain \Rain\ (r[=a]n), n. [OE. rein, AS. regen; akin to OFries. rein, D. & G. regen, OS. & OHG. regan, Icel., Dan., & Sw. regn, Goth. rign, and prob. to L. rigare to water, to wet; cf. Gr. bre`chein to wet, to rain.] Water falling in drops from the clouds; the descent of water from the clouds in drops. [1913 Webster]
  • Rain is water by the heat of the sun divided into very small parts ascending in the air, till, encountering the cold, it be condensed into clouds, and descends in drops. --Ray. [1913 Webster]
  • Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Rain is distinguished from mist by the size of the drops, which are distinctly visible. When water falls in very small drops or particles, it is called mist; and fog is composed of particles so fine as to be not only individually indistinguishable, but to float or be suspended in the air. See Fog, and Mist. [1913 Webster]
  • Rain band (Meteorol.), a dark band in the yellow portion of the solar spectrum near the sodium line, caused by the presence of watery vapor in the atmosphere, and hence sometimes used in weather predictions.
  • Rain bird (Zool.), the yaffle, or green woodpecker. [Prov. Eng.] The name is also applied to various other birds, as to Saurothera vetula of the West Indies.
  • Rain fowl (Zool.), the channel-bill cuckoo ({Scythrops Novae-Hollandiae}) of Australia.
  • Rain gauge, an instrument of various forms for measuring the quantity of rain that falls at any given place in a given time; a pluviometer; an ombrometer.
  • Rain goose (Zool.), the red-throated diver, or loon. [Prov. Eng.]
  • Rain prints (Geol.), markings on the surfaces of stratified rocks, presenting an appearance similar to those made by rain on mud and sand, and believed to have been so produced.
  • Rain quail. (Zool.) See Quail, n., 1.
  • Rain water, water that has fallen from the clouds in rain. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Rain'

From: GCIDE
  • Rain \Rain\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rained (r[=a]nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Raining.] [AS. regnian, akin to G. regnen, Goth. rignjan. See Rain, n.]
  • 1. To fall in drops from the clouds, as water; -- used mostly with it for a nominative; as, it rains. [1913 Webster]
  • The rain it raineth every day. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To fall or drop like water from the clouds; as, tears rained from their eyes. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Rain'

From: GCIDE
  • Rain \Rain\ (r[=a]n), v. t.
  • 1. To pour or shower down from above, like rain from the clouds. [1913 Webster]
  • Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. --Ex. xvi. 4. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To bestow in a profuse or abundant manner; as, to rain favors upon a person. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'rain'

From: Easton
  • Rain There are three Hebrew words used to denote the rains of different seasons,
  • Yoreh (Hos. 6:3), or moreh (Joel 2:23), denoting the former or the early rain.
  • Melqosh, the "latter rain" (Prov. 16:15).
  • Geshem, the winter rain, "the rains." The heavy winter rain is mentioned in Gen. 7:12; Ezra 10:9; Cant. 2:11. The "early" or "former" rains commence in autumn in the latter part of October or beginning of November (Deut. 11:14; Joel 2:23; comp. Jer. 3:3), and continue to fall heavily for two months. Then the heavy "winter rains" fall from the middle of December to March. There is no prolonged fair weather in Palestine between October and March. The "latter" or spring rains fall in March and April, and serve to swell the grain then coming to maturity (Deut. 11:14; Hos. 6:3). After this there is ordinarily no rain, the sky being bright and cloudless till October or November.
  • Rain is referred to symbolically in Deut. 32:2; Ps. 72:6; Isa. 44:3, 4; Hos. 10:12.

Synonyms of 'rain'

From: Moby Thesaurus