[syn: rain, rain down]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Rain \Rain\ (r[=a]n), n. & v.
Reign. [Obs.] --Spenser.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
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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.
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Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain. --Milton.
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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.
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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.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Rain \Rain\ (r[=a]n), v. t.
1. To pour or shower down from above, like rain from the
clouds.
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Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain
bread from heaven for you. --Ex. xvi. 4.
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2. To bestow in a profuse or abundant manner; as, to rain
favors upon a person.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
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The rain it raineth every day. --Shak.
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2. To fall or drop like water from the clouds; as, tears
rained from their eyes.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
rain
n 1: water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the
atmosphere [syn: rain, rainfall]
2: drops of fresh water that fall as precipitation from clouds
[syn: rain, rainwater]
3: anything happening rapidly or in quick successive; "a rain of
bullets"; "a pelting of insults" [syn: rain, pelting]
v 1: precipitate as rain; "If it rains much more, we can expect
some flooding" [syn: rain, rain down]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
176 Moby Thesaurus words for "rain":
Jupiter Pluvius, Thor, Zeus, abound, accord, administer, afford,
agua, allot, allow, aqua, award, bestow, bestow on, black spot,
bloom, blooping, bristle with, cascade, cataract, cloudburst,
collapse, come down, communicate, confer, crash, crawl with,
creep with, deal, deal out, definition, deluge, descend, dip,
dip down, dish out, dispense, dole, dole out, donate, down,
downpour, drinking water, drizzle, drop, drop down, drop off,
drown, drum, duck, dunk, eau, extend, exuberate, fall, fall down,
fall off, flare, float, flood, flow, flow on, fork out,
fringe area, ghost, gift, gift with, give, give freely, give out,
go down, go downhill, grant, granulation, gravitate, grid,
ground water, gush, hand out, hard shadow, hard water, head, heap,
heavy water, help to, hydrol, hydrometeor, hydrosphere, image,
impart, inundate, issue, lavish, let have, limewater,
lose altitude, mete, mete out, mineral water, mizzle,
multiple image, noise, offer, outpouring, overflow, parachute,
patter, pelt, picture, picture noise, picture shifts, pitch,
pitter-patter, plummet, plunge, pounce, pour, pour down, pour on,
pour with rain, precipitate, precipitation, present, proffer,
proliferate, rain tadpoles, rainfall, rainstorm, rainwater, render,
rolling, run, run over, salt water, scanning pattern,
scintillation, sea water, serve, shading, shell out, shower,
shower down, slip, sluice, snow, snowstorm, soft water, spatter,
spit, spring water, sprinkle, squall, steam, stoop, stream,
submerge, swamp, swarm with, swoop, tattoo, teem, teem with,
tender, torrent, trend downward, trickle, volley, vouchsafe, water,
water vapor, weep, well water, wetting agent, wetting-out agent,
whelm, yield
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:
Rain
There are three Hebrew words used to denote the rains of
different seasons, (1.) Yoreh (Hos. 6:3), or moreh (Joel 2:23),
denoting the former or the early rain. (2.) Melqosh, the "latter
rain" (Prov. 16:15). (3.) 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.