▪ I. rain, n.1
(reɪn)
Forms: 1 reᵹn, ræᵹn, 1–2 rén, 2 rien, 2–4 rein, (3 -e), 3 reȝȝn, 3–5, rayn, (4–6 -e), 3–6 reyn, (4–6 -e, ? 5 reynne), 4 rene, 4–5, 6 Sc. rane, 4–7 raine, 3– rain.
[Comm. Teut.: OE. reᵹn, rén = OFris. rein (mod. reijn), OS. regan, -in (Du. regen), OHG. regan (MHG., G. regen), ON. (Sw., Da.) regn, Goth. rign. There are no certain cognates outside of Teut.]
1. a. The condensed vapour of the atmosphere, falling in drops large enough to attain a sensible velocity; the fall of such drops.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxlvi. 8 Se oferwirð heofen mid wolcnum & ᵹearwað eorðan reᵹn. a 1000 ælfric Gen. vii. 4 Ic..sende ren nu..ofer eorðan. 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1117 Mid þunre & lihtinge & reine & haᵹole. a 1200 Ormin 8622 Wel hallf feorþe ȝer..comm na reȝȝn onn eorþe. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3265 Ðhunder, and leuene, and rein ðor-mong God sent. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 6827 Þe arewes come so þykke so reyn. c 1386 Chaucer Monk's T. 183 In reyn with wilde beestes walked hee. ― Prioress' T. 222 Hise salte teeris trikled doun as reyn. c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. ii. 146 To couere him fro reyne and fro othir sturne wedris. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 257 Fers as ane eill war new tane in the rane. 1635 Swan Spec. M. iv. §2 (1643) 58 The rain, proceeding from those vapours which we call the clouds. 1710 Addison Tatler No. 218 ¶2 A black Cloud falling to the Earth in long Trails of Rain. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) II. 90 There is a certain uniformity in the operation of the sun, rain, and earth. 1810 Scott Lady of L. v. xv, Fierce Roderick..shower'd his blows like wintry rain. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 41 We may fairly expect the formation of rain to be preceded by that of cloud. |
b. In proverbial and allusive expressions. Also in
fig. phr. to know enough to come in out of the rain, and
varr., to be sensible enough to act prudently in a given situation (
cf. rain v. 1).
| c 1250 Long Life 3 in O.E. Misc. 156 Fair weder turneð ofte into reine. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 732 Er þat thonder stynte, comth a reyn. 14.. in Rel. Antiq. I. 323 After droght commyth rayne. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ii. viii, After the rayne cometh the fair weder. 1599 H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner B iv, Fooles..have the wit to keep themselves out of the raine. 1670 Ray Eng. Prov. 135 Small rain lays great dust. 1777 [see rain v. 3]. 1848 F. A. Durivage Stray Subjects 95 Ham was one of 'em—he was! He ‘knew sufficient to get out of the rain’. 1884 ‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xiv. 122 De man dat think he kin settle a 'spute 'bout a whole chile wid a half a chile doan' know enough to come in out'n de rain. 1894 Stevenson & Osbourne Ebb-Tide i. vi. 102 You seem to think underwriters haven't got enough sense to come in out of the rain. 1920 ‘Sapper’ Bull-Dog Drummond ii. 47 Either, James, I am a congenital idiot, and don't know enough to come in out of the rain; or we've hit the goods. 1932 ‘A. Gilbert’ Body on Beam i. 23 A girl who's lived..in Menzies Street knows when to come in out of the rain. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? i. 9 He didn't know enough to come in out of the rain and he died of..dumbness. 1973 J. Wainwright Devil you Don't 47 Come on in, out of the rain, Sugden—your brain is growing moss. |
c. rain or shine: see
shine n.1 3 b.
2. pl. a. Showers of rain; rainfalls.
| a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 20 Mar. 40 Þære lyfte ᵹecynd is þæt heo tehð to þa renas of þæm sealtan sæ. 971 Blickl. Hom. 51 Þas windas & þas reᵹnas syndon ealle his. 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1098 Þurh mycele renas þe ealles ᵹeares ne ablunnon. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 143 Godd..wiðheld alle reines þrie hier & six moneþes. a 1340 Hampole Psalter civ. 30 He set þaire raynys haghil. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) vii. 23 Þare es na trubling of þe aer thurgh raynes. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 2 Thys yere felle gret raynes. 1625 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. ii. i. (1635) 5 The extraordinary Raines and showers which those places suffer. 1738 Gray Tasso 10 Swoll'n with new force and late descending rains. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 48 The heavy tropical rains are usually confined to definite periods. |
| Prov. 1846 Denham Prov. (Percy Soc.) 54 Many rains, many rowans. |
b. In India, the rainy season.
| 1616 Sir T. Roe Jrnl. (Hakluyt Soc.) I. 247 A storme of rayne called the Oliphant, vsuall at goeing out of the raynes. 1707 Let. in Orme Hist. Fragments (1805) p. vi, We are heartily sorry that the rains have been so very unhealthy with you. 1776 Trial of Nundocomar 65/2 Was it..before the rains that the army came there? 1879 E. Arnold Lt. Asia viii. (1881) 236 Forty-five rains thereafter showed he those..and gave Our Asia light. 1895 B. M. Croker Village Tales (1896) 125 One rains he died. |
c. Naut. A part of the Atlantic Ocean (see
quots.), in which rain is frequent.
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Rains, in the sea-language, denote all that tract of sea to the northward of the equator, between 4 and 10 degrees of latitude; and lying between the meridian of Cape Verde, and that of the easternmost islands of the same name. 1803 Vince in Naval Chron. X. 145 There are..constant calms in that part of the ocean called the Rains. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Rains..exist between the north-east and south-east trade-winds, changing their latitude several degrees. |
3. With
indef. article:
† a. A shower of rain.
Obs.| a 1225 Ancr. R. 246 A muchel wind aliþ mid a lutel rein. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3326 First he wenden it [manna] were a rein. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2411 Phyllis, Behynde him come a wynde and eke a rayne. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 442 At euery rayn Do delue vp smal the mold. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xiv. 39 A small rayne abatyth a grete wynd. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 69 It is no maruayle to see a Snayle after a Rayne to creep out of his shell. |
b. A (specified) kind of rain (or shower).
| 1699 Phil. Trans. Abridg. (1731) III. 495 A small drizling Rain..increased to a very plentiful shower. 1711 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 1 Aug., The queen and I..were both hindered by a sudden rain. 1782 Encycl. Brit. (1797) XV. 779/1 If the vapours..rise a little higher, we have a mist or fog. A little higher still, and they produce a small rain. 1853 G. J. Cayley Las Alforjas II. 51 Set off in a mizzling rain. 1963 C. D. Simak They walked like Men xxiv. 142 It was raining. Not much of a rain, just the beginning of a rain, cold and miserable. |
4. a. transf. The descent of liquid or solid particles or bodies falling in the manner of rain; the collective particles or bodies thus falling. Also
fig.| 1388 Wyclif Ecclus. xliii. 20 An herte dredith on the reyn therof [snow]. a 1541 Wyatt in Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 39 A rayne of teares, a clowde of darke disdayne. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche i. xxxviii, Wealth it self doth roll In to her bosom in a golden Rain. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., These rains of frogs always happen after very dry seasons. 1821 Shelley Hellas 381 The batteries blazed, Kneading them down with fire and iron rain. 1847 Tennyson Princ. Prol. 62 The fountain..playing, now A twisted snake, and now a rain of pearls. 1935 T. S. Eliot Murder in Cathedral ii. 75 A rain of blood has blinded my eyes. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 2 May 4 The continuous rain of pamphlets in all languages told of the enemy's defeats. 1975 J. G. Evans Environment Early Man Brit. Isles iv. 81 It is difficult to work out vegetational structure from the pollen record due to the wide area from which the pollen ‘rain’ derives. |
b. fig. of immaterial things.
| 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iii. iii. 119 The dew-mingled rain Of the calm moonbeams. 1820 ― Skylark 35 From thy presence showers a rain of melody. 1893 Mrs. C. Praed Outlaw & Lawmaker II. 229 To shield herself from the rain of kisses. |
c. spec. A composition used in rockets, producing a shower of bright-coloured sparks.
| 1749 Descr. Machine for Fireworks 12 Explosions of Serpents, Rains, and Stars. 1853 Mortimer Pyrotechny (ed. 2) 94 Golden Rain..Silver Rain. |
5. attrib. and
Comb. a. attributive or appositive, as
rain-bag,
rain-blast,
rain-blur,
rain-cloud,
rain-course,
rain-cult,
rain-curtain,
rain-dew,
rain-ditch,
rain-drift,
rain-dust,
† rain-frost,
rain-gem,
rain-land,
rain-light,
rain-mist,
rain-pearl,
rain-pipe,
† rain-rift,
rain-shine,
rain-song,
rain-spout,
rain-squall,
rain-stain,
rain-storm,
rain-tear,
† rain-time,
rain-vapour,
rain-washing,
† rain-weather,
rain-world.
| 1634–5 Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 66 Rain-water preserved in *rain-bags. |
| 1863 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 12 But if the *rain⁓blasts be unbound And from dank feathers wring the drops. |
| 1930 E. Pound XXX Cantos vii. 27 Passion to breed a form in shimmer of *rain-blur. |
| 1839 Trans. Meteorological Soc. I. 40 Nimbus, or *Rain Cloud, is accumulated layers of the stratus, which dissolving falls as rain. 1846 Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. ii. iii. iv. §2 The nearness of the rain-cloud..makes its hue of grey monotonous. |
| 1812 Scott Rokeby ii. xiv, Hid in the shrubby *rain-course now. |
| 1923 L. Spence Gods of Mexico i. 11 We shall..attempt to descry..an incipient *rain-cult. |
| 1926 M. Leinster Dew on Leaf ii. iii. 159 The *rain-curtain that swayed like a grey chiffon veil before Rhona's window. 1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring i. viii. 146 Frodo heard a sweet singing running in his mind: a song that seemed to come like a pale light behind a grey rain-curtain. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 416 The air is impregnated with *raindew moisture. |
| 1949 E. Pound Pisan Cantos lxxiv. 12 Tovarish blessed without aim wept in the *rainditch at evening. |
| 1910 W. De Morgan Affair of Dishonour xiii. 207 The *rain-drift..strengthened ever from the seaward. |
| 1912 Galsworthy Inn of Tranquility 48 The mist had thickened to a white, infinitesimal *rain-dust. |
| a 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sc. (Wright) 232 Of hawel, of deu, of *reyn-forst, and hor-forst. |
| 1931 Blunden To Themis 27 The impulses of April, the *rain-gems, the rose-cloud. |
| 1930 T. S. Eliot Ash-Wednesday 18 Not On the mainland, in the desert or the *rain land. 1957 Ld. Hailey Afr. Survey xiv. 1011 Subject to a fixed annual payment to the former ‘rainland landholders’. |
| 1904 W. H. Hudson Green Mansions x. 143 This subdued *rain-light did not last long. |
| 1893 Kipling Seven Seas (1896) 76 Then softly as a *rain-mist on the sward, Came to the Rose the Answer of the Lord. 1936 Discovery Aug. 242/2 A leaf which is slightly damp with dew or rain-mist. 1968 ‘Han Suyin’ Birdless Summer vi. 136 The peaks were shrouded in rain-mist. |
| 1879 O. Wilde in Time Apr. 30 Brush the *rain-pearls from the eucharis. 1926 M. Leinster Dew on Leaf ii. iv. 191 Eastern music..was to him..as soft as whispered words of love, delicate as tumbling rain-pearls. |
| 1889 F. A. Knight By Leafy Ways 12 It rouses the ire of the householder by stopping up the *rain-pipe. 1913 J. Masefield Daffodil Fields 92 The water..gurgled through the rain-pipe to the butt. 1969 Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catal. Spring/Summer 924/2 All guttering and rainpipes have double-locked seams and rolled edges for added strength. |
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 368 Mony clustered clowde clef alle in clowteȝ, To-rent vch a *rayn-ryfte & rusched to þe vrþe. |
| 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day i. 15, I am still haunted by the *rainshine of orchards in the vale of Evesham. |
| 1907 N. Curtis Indians' Bk. 365 The Rain-Youth made the *rain-songs and gave them to the Navajos. 1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring i. vii. 140 It seemed plain to them that the song was a rain-song, as sweet as showers on dry hills, that told the tale of a river from the spring in the highlands to the Sea far below. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 470 Boys from high school are perched on the..*rainspouts, whistling and cheering. 1962 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxxviii. 38 Rain spouts and water spouting predominate in Midland territory. 1978 J. A. Michener Chesapeake 488 The two Steeds, tumbling from their widow's walk, had caught momentarily on rainspouts edging the roof, and then fallen heavily into flowerbeds. |
| 1849 N. Kingsley Diary (1914) 80 A few *rain squalls headed off this forenoon to the NE. 1902 Conrad Youth 40 Before sunset a thick rain-squall passed over the two boats..and that was the last I saw of them for a time. 1930 Times Educ. Suppl. 24 May 4/2 Dense rain⁓squalls forced her to deviate from her course. |
| 1923 W. de la Mare Riddle 183 The mosses and *rain-stains and frost-flowerings of centuries of autumns and winters. 1952 Dylan Thomas Let. 6 Nov. (1966) 381 This tumbling house whose every rain-stain..I know in my sleep. |
| 1816 Coleridge Lay Serm. 348 The rainbow on a fast-sailing *rain-storm. 1905 Macmillan's Mag. Nov. 42 Everything European was washed off, as is paint off a woman's face in a rain-storm. 1979 ‘A. Blaisdell’ No Villain need Be ix. 147 Sunday morning broke bright and clear..which was normal for Southern California after a rainstorm. |
| 1909 E. Pound Personae 13 Cloud and *rain-tears pass they fleet! |
| c 1425 St. Mary of Oignies i. ix. in Anglia VIII. 142/33 She..in þe *rayne-tyme come home ageyne vntouched. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 416 Those burgeoning stars overhead, rutilant in thin *rainvapour. |
| 1886 Hardy Mayor Casterbr. II. xxii. 306 The walls..had been worn by years of *rain-washings to a lumpy crumbling surface. |
| c 1520 L. Andrewe Noble Lyfe in Babees Bk. 219 In fayre weder he reioyseth sore, but whan it is *rayne weder, than it singeth selden. |
| 1970 T. Hughes Crow 43, I am the uncrowned Of the *rainworld. |
b. Instrumental, chiefly with
pa. pples., as
rain-affected,
rain-awakened,
rain-beat,
rain-beaten,
rain-bedraggled,
† rain-berun,
rain-bleared,
rain-blown,
rain-blurred,
rain-born,
rain-bound,
rain-bright,
rain-bruised,
rain-burdened,
rain-cold,
rain-darkened,
rain-dishevelled,
rain-drenched,
rain-fed,
rain-filled,
rain-flawed,
rain-fragrant,
rain-gorged,
rain-heavy,
rain-laden,
rain-laid,
rain-logged,
rain-loud,
rain-molested,
rain-murmured,
rain-pitted,
rain-pocked,
rain-rusted,
rain-scented,
rain-shimmery,
rain-sleeked,
rain-slicked,
rain-soaked,
rain-sodden,
rain-stained,
rain-starred,
rain-streaked,
rain-sunken,
rain-sweet,
rain-swept,
rain-varnished,
rain-washed,
rain-weathered,
rain-wet,
rain-worn adjs.| 1905 Daily Chron. 26 July 1/7 A brilliant innings by Darling was the redeeming feature of Australia's batting on a *rain-affected wicket at Manchester. 1962 Times 30 Aug. 3/3 Essex won the toss, decided to bat on a rain-affected wicket. 1976 J. Snow Cricket Rebel 26 The rain affected wicket was a little suspect all through. |
| 1820 Shelley Skylark 58 *Rain-awakened flowers. |
| 1598 Bp. Hall Sat. iv. iii. 22 Figures halfe Obliterate In *rain-beat Marble. |
| a 1450 Fysshynge w. Angle (1883) 2 *Reyn beton..and hys clothes torne. a 1529 Skelton Col. Cloute 55 Though my ryme be ragged,..Rudely rayne beaten. 1606 J. Reynolds Dolarnys Primerose D iv b, T'haue deckt, and trim'd, this now rainbeaten face. 1914 W. B. Yeats in Poetry (Chicago) May 60 The pale unsatisfied ones Appear and disappear..With all their ancient faces like rain-beaten stones. 1932 D. Gascoyne Roman Balcony 7 From the rain-beaten roses under the balcony. |
| 1909 Daily Chron. 21 Aug. 1/2 (heading) *Rain-bedraggled Suffragettes removed by Police. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 434 Her dark den furtive, rainbedraggled. |
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. vii. 73 In londis wete, or ellis *rayn bironne. |
| 1849 M. Arnold Strayed Reveller, Grey, *rain-blear'd statues. |
| 1917 R. Graves Fairies & Fusiliers 24 I'm away to the *rain-blown hill. |
| 1901 ‘L. Malet’ Hist. Sir R. Calmady v. i. 384 Actuality of *rain-blurred, wind-scourged town without, and anger-begetting memories of Brockhurst within. 1965 M. Morris in Overland XXXI. iii. 11 A gateway that still bore, rain-blurred and tattered, the printed notices. |
| 1862 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 114 Then while the *rain-born arc glows higher Westward on his sinking sire. |
| 1864 D. G. Mitchell Sev. Stor. 45 A stranger who is *rain-bound in the opposite inn. |
| 1818 Milman Samor 344 Freshens the circuit of the *rain-bright grove. |
| 1916 D. H. Lawrence Amores 130 The *rain⁓bruised leaves are suddenly shaken. |
| 1932 D. Gascoyne Roman Balcony 15 Clouds rear, Dark and ominous, *rain⁓burdened. |
| 1916 E. Pound Lustra 22 Grey olive leaves beneath a *rain-cold sky. |
| 1928 V. Woolf Orlando v. 224 Her eyes slowly lowered themselves down and down till they came to the *rain-darkened earth. 1962 I. Murdoch Unofficial Rose i. 13 Her bright hair..hidden now except where a few rain-darkened ends clung to her neck. |
| 1917 D. H. Lawrence Look! We have come Through! 56, I listen For the sluicing of their *rain-dishevelled petals. |
| 1853 Talfourd Castilian v. iv, Not a scent Of *rain-drench'd flower. 1901 Contemp. Rev. Mar. 437 This process of disafforesting is ruinous in a rain-drenched country. 1932 D. Gascoyne Roman Balcony 75 To wait in the weary, rain-drenched queues. 1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. c1/4 The drive found the rain-drenched fairway. |
| 1892 Kipling Barrack-Room Ballads 192 Till he heard as the roar of a *rain-fed ford the roar of the Milky Way. 1979 Nature 27 Sept. 251/3 Some good progress has certainly been made in research on dry-land farming, largely aimed at reducing risks in cultivation in rainfed areas. |
| 1942 W. Faulkner Go down, Moses 356 The tent-flap falling on the same out-waft of faint and *rain-filled light. 1963 A. Lubbock Austral. Roundabout 4 Across the paddock the sheen of water glittered from the rain-filled dams. |
| a 1918 W. Owen Poems (1963) 95 Or be you in the gutter where you stand, Pale *rain⁓flawed phantom of the place. |
| 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist (1969) 228 The brother's face was bent upon her fair *rainfragrant hair. |
| 1917 Kipling Diversity of Creatures 404 Rain on *rain-gorged channels raised the water-levels round them. 1943 D. Gascoyne Poems 1937–1942 59 Beside the stolid opaque flow Of rain-gorged Thames. |
| 1942 W. Faulkner Go down, Moses 240 Now the woods ahead of them and the *rain-heavy air were one uproar. |
| 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist (1969) v. 176 The *rainladen trees of the avenue evoked in him, as always, memories of the girls and women in the plays of Gerhart Hauptmann. |
| 1921 W. de la Mare Mem. Midget viii. 47 We..mounted into a four-wheeled cab, and once more were in motion in the *rain-laid dust. 1970 G. E. Evans Where Beards wag All viii. 90 On some Suffolk farms it was used in the 'fifties, though admittedly for special jobs like..the saving of wind- or rain-laid crops. |
| 1960 T. Hughes Lupercal 27 *Rain-logged, wind-unroofed, The manor farm hulked its last use As landmark. |
| 1926 A. Huxley Two or Three Graces 173 Peddley broke the *rain-loud silence. |
| 1845 Longfellow To Old Danish Songbook in Poems (1846) 377 Yellow are thy time-worn pages, As the russet, *rain-molested Leaves of autumn. |
| 1942 W. Faulkner in Story Mag. May–June 51/2 The tent, the *rain-murmured canvas globe, was filled with it once more. |
| 1916 H. G. Wells Mr. Britling ii. iii. 285 Men shouted and women sobbed and cowered, and flares played upon the *rain-pitted black waves. |
| 1931 V. Woolf Waves 227 One bone lay *rain-pocked and sun-bleached. |
| 1947 Auden Age of Anxiety (1948) ii. 49 O the drains are clogged, *Rain-rusted, the roofs of the privies Have fallen in. |
| 1818 Keats Endym. i. 100 *Rain-scented eglantine. |
| 1905 Academy 21 Oct. 1103/1 The rabbit that scuttled before us, the league-footing hare That shot from her form with tawny and *rain-sleeked coat. 1964 Listener 9 Jan. 67/1 In darkness outside Foxes and rain-sleeked stones and the dead. |
| 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 12/4 She braked and skidded on *rain-slicked pavement but had no real chance to stop. |
| 1789 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Subj. for Painters Wks. 1812 II. 135 Drooping *rain-soak'd fowls. 1890 Kipling Departm. Ditties (ed. 4) 94 The rotten, rain-soaked khud. 1975 N. Luard Robespierre Serial iii. 11 They'd gathered in his suite at the Vendôme as soon as they got back from the Loti, without even pausing to change their rain-soaked clothes. |
| 1904 Westm. Gaz. 10 May 2/1 The Cossacks were drawn up on a large, *rain-sodden, muddy field. 1978 Cornish Guardian 27 Apr. 4/8 In the second half it was the clay club who played the game to suit the rain-sodden conditions. |
| 1895 M. Pemberton Impregnable City ii. xiii. 270, I..watched for a while the sleeping island through the *rain-stained glass. |
| 1958 L. Durrell Balthazar iii. 62 The gonfalons bellied like sails in the *rain-starred afternoon. |
| 1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) xii. 100 The carnival smelled the same, and The *rain-streaked sign swung there. 1980 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts July 530/1 She made an artificial stone, but this was nothing like the dismal, rain-streaked concrete of today. |
| 1916 Blunden Harbingers 20 *Rainsunken roof, grown green and thin For sparrows' nests and starlings' nests. |
| 1913 W. de la Mare Peacock Pie 127 Feathered birds in the *rain-sweet sky. |
| 1932 Blunden Face of England 177 Those blackening *rain-swept fields. 1978 R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant xxxi. 366 His last assignment had been at Kennedy Airport during a rainswept night when a cordon of police surrounded the glistening fuselage of a British Airways 747. |
| 1867 J. R. Lowell in Atlantic Monthly July 99 The candle she held in the door, From *rain-varnished tree-trunk Flashed fainter. |
| 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 231 The *rain-washed fields from hedge to hedge are bare. 1965 New Statesman 19 Nov. 803/1 We shared a rainwashed picnic with some shy, boyish chaps. |
| 1940 J. Betjeman Old Lights for New Chancels 39 The *rain-weathered streets of adjacent Rumsaa. |
| 1916 D. H. Lawrence Amores 49 All round the yard it is cluck, my brown hen, Cluck, and the *rain-wet wings. 1928 E. Sitwell Five Poems 16 The airs like rain-wet shrinking petals curl. |
| 1904 W. de la Mare Henry Brocken vi. 51 She trod with cautious foot and peering eye the green, *rainworn paths. 1968 T. Kinsella Nightwalker 11 A rain-worn, delicate Stone shape. |
c. Objective, etc., as
rain-bearer,
rain-giver;
rain-aboding,
rain-bearing,
rain-bringing,
rain-dropping,
rain-repellant,
rain-repelling,
rain-resistant,
rain-resisting adjs.; also
rain-tight.
| 1640 G. Abbott Job Paraphr. 229 A *rain-aboding wind gives fore-knowledge of it. |
| 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 42 South-west winds act as the chief *rain-bearers to our islands. |
| 1922 W. G. Kendrew Climates of Continents v. 25 But in the south, south-west winds begin to make their appearance and the southern limit of the [Sahara] desert is found about 18° N. lat. where these *rain-bringing winds become predominant in summer. 1946 F. E. Zeuner Dating Past vii. 203 The secondary effects of the glaciation..affected the Mediterranean, through the deviation of many rain-bringing depressions. |
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 429 There Fabrickes are..of smoake-torne straw..and *Raine-dropping watles. |
| 1922 W. G. Kendrew Climates of Continents xx. 110 The south-west monsoon is essentially the *rain-giver of India. 1927 P. M. Larkens in Sudan Notes & Rec. IX. 46 But in spite of this it is Liwa's spirit, and not Mbali, that is supposed to be the rain-giver here. |
| 1968 Daily Tel. 4 Nov. 11/5 Best outfits..included a gleaming parchment kid coat, *rain-repellant. |
| 1892 C. M. Yonge Old Woman's Outlook 178 Sheaves..built up in the *rain-repelling arrangements. |
| 1958 Times 6 Oct. 13/1 And all the tweeds are mothproofed as well as *rain-resistant. 1963 Economist 20 July 256/2 Novelties (such as ‘rain-resistant’ petunias..from Japan). |
| 1952 R. Leighton Compl. Bk. Dog (rev. ed.) viii. 126 The outer-coat [of the Alsatian] is also close,..so that it is *rain-resisting. |
6. Special
Combs.:
rain-ball dial. (see
quot.);
rain-band, a dark band in the solar spectrum, caused by the presence of water-vapour in the atmosphere;
rain-bath, a shower- or spray-bath;
rain-belt, a stretch of land much subject to rain; also
fig.;
rain bonnet chiefly
U.S., a plastic fold-up bonnet worn as a protection against the rain;
rain boot U.S. (see
quot. 1975);
rain-box, a contrivance used in a theatre for imitating the sound of rain;
rain-cap, a cap worn as a protection against rain (so
rain-cloak,
rain-clothes, etc.);
rain-cape, a waterproof cape (
cape n.2 3) furnishing protection from rain; hence
ˈraincaped a., wearing a rain-cape;
rain-chamber, in metal-working, a compartment in which noxious fumes are condensed by the action of spray (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1875);
rain-charm, an object, action, or incantation used by a rainmaker to summon rain;
rain-chart = rain-map;
rain check,
cheque chiefly
U.S., (
a) a ticket given to a spectator at an outdoor event providing for a refund of his entrance money or admission at a later date, should the event be interrupted by rain;
transf., a ticket allowing one to order an article before it is available, and to collect it when it becomes so; (
b)
fig. (see
quot. 1930); also,
esp. in
phr. to take a rain check on, to reserve the right not to take up a specified offer until such time as it should prove convenient;
raincoat, a coat worn as a protection against rain; used
attrib. of someone or something thought to be lewd or unseemly,
esp. in
phr. raincoat brigade, disreputable, raincoat-clad, frequenters of cinemas that show pornographic films (also in extended use); hence
ˈraincoated a., wearing a raincoat;
rain crow U.S., the yellow-billed or black-billed cuckoo,
Coccyzus americanus or
C. erythrophthalmus;
cf. rainbird 2;
rain-cuckoo = rain-bird 2;
rain dance, a dance performed by a tribal group in the hope of summoning rain;
rain date U.S., an alternative date upon which an outdoor activity can be held if rain should cause the intended date to be unsuitable;
rain-day Meteorol., a day, commencing for statistical purposes at 9 a.m. G.M.T., on which the recorded rainfall is not less than 0·01 inch or 0·2 mm.;
rain-doctor, one who professes to bring rain by incantations;
rain dog (see
dog n.1 10 a and
quot.);
rain-door, an outside door in Japanese houses;
rain-fly, a blood-sucking, greyish fly,
Hæmatopota pluvialis, of the family Tabanidæ;
rain frog, a name used in North and Central America for a small tree frog or spring peeper belonging to the genus
Hyla;
rain-gauge, an instrument measuring the amount of the rain-fall;
rain-glass, a barometer;
rain-god, the god who has control of the rain; also
rain-goddess;
rain-goose (also
rein goose), the red-throated diver (
Colymbus septentrionalis);
rain-hat,
hood, a head-covering designed
spec. to afford protection against the rain;
rain jacket, a short raincoat designed in the shape of a jacket; also, a small protective covering worn by a dog;
rain-jungle = rain forest;
rain-king, rain personified as a king;
rain load, the weight of rain on an airship;
† rain-machine = rain-gauge;
rain-map, a map showing the distribution of the rainfall over a certain area;
rain-mark,
-pit, an indentation made in the ground by a rain-drop (so
rain-pitting,
rain-print,
rain-spot);
rain-plover (see
quot.);
rain-procession, a ceremonial procession made in the hope of obtaining rain;
rain-quail, the Indian and African quail (
Coturnix coromandelicus), abundant in some parts of India during the rainy season;
rain-shadow, an area of small annual rainfall, brought about because it is sheltered from prevailing rain-bearing winds by a range of hills (see also
quot. 1955); hence
rain-shadowing, the action of producing a rain-shadow;
rain-stone, a stone believed to possess certain qualities and used in primitive rain-making rituals;
rainsuit, a jacket and leggings designed to protect one against the rain;
rain-temple, a temple in which supposedly rain-provoking rituals are enacted;
rain-tree, (
a) an evergreen shrub,
Brunfelsia undulata, of the family Solanaceæ, native to Jamaica and bearing white, bell-shaped flowers; (
b)
= guango,
saman2;
† rain-vault, a compluvium;
rain-wash, the effect of rain in washing away earth, etc.; also, the matter thus washed away;
rainwear (see
quot. 1953). See also
rain-bird, -bow, -drop, -fall,
forest, -fowl, -shower, -water.
| 1888 R. Abercromby Weather iii. 78 In Lancashire, the festoons [of cloud] are called ‘*rainballs’, and are only considered a sign of rain. |
| 1882 Piazzi Smyth in Knowledge II. 294 That water-vapour band..has, therefore, been called, the ‘*rain-band’. Ibid. ‘Rain-band spectroscopes’ have been specially constructed by..opticians. 1887 Nature XXXV. 588/2 The intensity of the rainband is observed and recorded. |
| 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 340 Hip-baths, shower or *rain-baths. |
| 1878 R. J. Hinton Handbk. Arizona vii. 201 The Santa Cruz [Valley], up to Tubac, marks the western limit of a notable *rain-belt. 1948 E. Waugh Loved One 69 Water played everywhere from a buried network of pipes, making a glittering rain-belt waist-high. |
| 1968 Punch 19 June 892/3 Weinsoff can have his name on his key tag..hatband and sponge (and Mrs. Weinsoff on her pot holder, thimble and *rain bonnet). 1975 S. Lauder Killing Time on Corvo vi. 53 She grinned chummily, tucking strands beneath the rain bonnet. |
| 1951 Sun (Baltimore) (B ed.) 23 May 7/6 (Advt.), The only *rainboot made of Norlon, the wonder plastic!.. Folds neatly and compactly in a fit-in-your-purse plastic pouch. 1975 Listener 25 Dec. 845/1 American rain boots..are a kind of mid-calf galoshes which pull over your shoes. |
| 1881 Era Almanack 38, I had pulled the rope connected with the ‘*rain-box’. |
| 1827 Carlyle Germ. Rom. I. 25 She drew a *rain-cap over her face. |
| 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 1 Oct. 3/5 (Advt.), Children's good quality tan colored *raincapes to fit girls 4 to 12 years; made with lined hood. 1922 D. H. Lawrence in Dial Jan. 54 Fat cab-men, whose rubber rain-capes flapped like wings in the wind. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 1 Nov. (Advt. section) 8/6 Cindico Pushchair Raincape, royal blue, new, unwanted gift. 1977 Observer (Colour Suppl.) 7 Aug. 41/2 Dress properly for riding a bike... Avoid rain capes that flap about the wheels. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 406 They hear the heavy tread of the watch as two *raincaped shadows pass the new royal university. 1973 A. Price October Men iii. 41 The rain-caped policeman materialised out of a gap in the hedge to stop the car. |
| 1890 J. G. Frazer Golden Bough I. iii. 403 The story that the body of Osiris enclosed in a coffer was thrown by Typhon into the Nile perhaps points to a custom of throwing the body of the victim, or at least a portion of it, into the Nile as a *rain⁓charm. 1936 E. E. Evans-Pritchard in Essays Soc. Anthrop. (1962) viii. 188 On one occasion, at Tambura, a rainmaker buried his rain charm with the body of his son, in revenge for the latter's death, which he suspected to have been caused by magic. |
| 1884 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch 26 May 8/2 The heavy rain yesterday threw a damper over local operations. At each of the parks the audience had to be content with three innings and *rain checks. 1919 Nat. Geogr. Mag. Aug. 103 Even the sport-loving Britons are said to have admired and wondered at the American dough-boy..issuing occasional rain-checks in mid-inning when the downpour of bursting shells became too distracting. 1930 J. Lait Big House 6 A parole is a ‘rain check’. 1939 R. Chandler Big Sleep xi. 83 The Sternwoods have money. All it has bought them is a rain cheque. 1959 P. H. Johnson Humbler Creation xviii. 120 Westlake said, ‘I'll take a rain-check. Be back.’ Maurice, not certain of this idiom which he vaguely knew to be American, watched him go. ‘Has he had enough?’ he asked Kate... ‘I should make a guess that he has to have a drink.’ 1970 Washington Post 30 Sept. d3/5 (Advt.), If our stores cannot perform this work within the time indicated we will give you a raincheck enabling you to have work done within 30 days at the advertised price. 1976 L. Deighton Twinkle, Twinkle Little Spy xiv. 141 ‘Let me take a rain-check.’ ‘On a love affair?’ I said. 1976 New Yorker 26 Apr. 31/1 Levin's project is to array miniature open-air versions of a hundred New York restaurants side by side along the Central Park Mall on Saturday, May 22nd (rain check for Sunday). 1977 Time 14 Nov. 41/3 Unless he can cash his rain check by early 1978, the President will run smack into France's March elections. |
| 1830 J. F. Watson Ann. Philadelphia App. 52 As a defence from rain, the men wore ‘*rain coats’, and the women ‘camblets’. 1871 A. B. Mitford Tales Old Japan II. 3 The farmers, dressed in their grass rain-coats. 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 187/1 Men's Double Texture Mackintosh Rain Coats..Made from good quality diagonal cloth..suitable to wear in place of an overcoat. 1925 Scribner's Mag. Sept. 238/2 His raincoat was split up the back, under his belt. 1976 Vogue Jan. 22/4 Raincoats in rust, khaki and navy blue..{pstlg}74. 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 9 July 842/2 The serious press in England is still being penalized for having so long tolerated less high-minded efforts at disclosure by the raincoat press. 1976 Observer 12 Dec. 24/4 Mindful of its duty to the raincoat brigade, however, the film abandons investigation at regular intervals to provide the expected, and inordinately protracted, bouts of titillation. 1977 New Yorker 23 May 33/2 O.K. for the raincoat brigade, but rather bland for the longhairs. |
| 1930 W. Faulkner As I lay Dying 74 Slowly he strokes his hands on his *raincoated thighs. 1974 D. Francis Knock Down i. 10 The rain-coated assembly looked..miserable. |
| 1806 M. Lewis Jrnl. 16 July in Orig. Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1905) V. 205, I saw both yesterday and today the Cookkoo or as it is sometimes called the *rain craw. 1831 J. J. Audubon Ornith. Biogr. I. 19 The Dutch farmers of Pennsylvania know it [sc. the yellow-billed cuckoo] better by the name of Rain Crow. 1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 190 American cuckoos..are..noted for their loud jerky cries, which they are supposed to utter most frequently in falling weather, whence their popular name, ‘rain crow’. 1880 G. W. Cable Grandissimes xxviii. 237 The dismal ventriloquous note of the rain-crow. 1899 B. Tarkington Gentleman from Indiana viii. 118 The rain⁓crow that sat on the fence. 1917 T. G. Pearson Birds Amer. II. 130/1 Both species are known as the ‘Rain Crow’ because of the belief—especially among farmers—that their guttural cry predicts rain. 1935 H. Davis Honey in Horn xv. 237 A rain-crow..sang like clanking a little copper bell. 1946 G. Stimpson Bk. about Thousand Things 55 The American cuckoo is known to country people as the rain or storm crow because its plaintive note..is regarded as a sign of rain or storm. |
| 1782 Latham Gen. Syn. Birds I. ii. 535 Long-billed *Rain Cuckow. |
| 1930 J. M. Buttree Rhythm of Redman 89 It is the privilege of all to improvise the new song for each *rain dance. 1968 E. McCourt Saskatchewan 6 Old Chief Sheepskin, nominally a Christian, summoned his braves to perform a rain dance. 1977 Time 18 Apr. 25/1 When the wet season in Northern California turned up bone dry, about 2,000 San Franciscans staged a modern rain dance in the Hyatt Regency Hotel. |
| 1972 Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 34/5 The Blue Mountain Paper Parade will present choreographer Barbara Roan's latest work, ‘Waystation/Truckers Only,’ on Saturday, June 3, at 3 p.m. on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade... The *rain date is June 4. 1975 New Yorker 7 July 11/3 Wednesday, July 2, at 8:30 (rain date, July 3), ‘La Traviata’. 1978 Chicago June 201/2 It's open house at the Durant's on June third..Stop in between ten a.m. and five p.m. $1.50 admission. Rain date is June fourth. |
| 1906 Brit. Rainfall 1905 123 This improvement may be traced by the steady increase in the number of *rain days reported. 1928 Nature 14 Apr. 591/2 The variations of the number of rain-days over the British Isles are much less than the corresponding variations of rainfall. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 2 Nov. 13/6 According to meteorological office statistics, rainfall in the city was more than double the average and the number of ‘rain-days’ ranked as the highest in 50 years. |
| 1843 The Rain Cloud 213 Should rain happen to fall, the credit is given to the *rain-doctor. 1857 Livingstone Trav. (1861) 17 The chief Sechele was himself a noted rain-doctor. |
| 1866 ‘Mark Twain’ in Sacramento Union 24 Aug. 3/2 What the sailors call ‘*rain dogs’—little patches of rainbow—are often seen drifting about the heavens in these latitudes. |
| 1888 Pall Mall G. 12 Sept. 2/1 The amado, or outside *rain-doors, were slid in front of all the houses. |
| 1921 E. Step Brit. Insect Life 231 This is the Clegg or *Rain-fly.., the grey, dusty-looking Fly that you have no suspicion is sitting on your hand or neck until its sharp lancet is thrust into your flesh. 1952 E. F. Daglish Name this Insect 277 Rain-fly or Clegg... Common in fields, meadows, woods, and about hedgerows. 1958 J. Carew Black Midas v. 79 A money-spider was struggling with a rain fly. 1971 Country Life 21 Oct. 1035/1, I am not partial to the bite of the rainfly. |
| 1827 T. L. McKenney Sk. Tour to Lakes 158 We found the few people who live near its mouth..[with] *rain frogs on the logs of their huts to sing them to repose. 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling i. 6 A rain frog sang a moment and then was still. 1958 J. Carew Wild Coast iv. 59 Outside, rain frogs were complaining to the stars. 1962 S. Wynter Hills of Hebron v. 70 From the dark hollows rain-frogs cracked sharp sad notes. |
| 1769 Heberden in Phil. Trans. LIX. 359 The *rain-gage..was fixed so high, as to rise above all the neighbouring chimnies. 1860 Maury Phys. Geog. (Low) v. 105 Rivers are the rain-gauges of nature. |
| 1862 Athenæum 26 July 121 The following may be depended upon as a *rain-glass. |
| 1864 *Rain-god [see mganga]. 1884 A. J. Evans in Archæologia XLIX. 108 The hill which is supposed to be the Rain-God himself. 1968 New Larousse Encycl. Mythol. 438 (caption) Tlaloc, the Aztec rain god enjoyed a similar popularity and was also one of the chief gods of the pantheon. |
| 1904 *Rain-goddess [see Earth-Mother s.v. earth n.1 II.]. 1967 J. R. Crawford Witchcraft & Sorcery in Rhodesia xii. 188 We go to Hosana, that is the rain goddess, and appeal to Hosana for rain. |
| 1793 Statist. Acc. Scotl. VII. 573 The birds are, eagles, marrots or auks, kingfishers, *rain geese, muir fowls. 1882 Standard 22 Aug. 2/5 Rein geese and brent geese were seen. |
| 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 28 Oct. 7/1 (Advt.), Women's and children's *rain hats at $1.50 each. 1955 E. Pound Classic Anthol. iv. 208 With a crowd of rain-hats And clicking hoes Out goes the weed To mulch and rot. 1967 Punch 21 June 907/1 Prizes for the best set of answers include restrung celebrity-used rackets, foldaway rain hats and transistor radios for getting the cricket commentaries. 1977 Chicago Tribune 2 Oct. xiii. 4/1 Besides, you have only a mile and a half to go, and you have boots, raincoat, and rain hat. |
| 1964 ‘E. Peters’ Flight of Witch ii. 34 Did she go off wearing her *rain-hood, and her heavy shoes, a night like this? 1977 P. Kemp in P. Collenette Winter's Tales 23 49 She was busy..untying a transparent plastic rain-hood that she was wearing over a rayon head-square. |
| 1975 Country Life 29 May 1424/2 The newest thing in rainwear is the suit... Next to the suit, the *rain jacket is very much around. 1976 Evening Times (Glasgow) 1 Dec. 26/6 Rain jackets, royal, sky, red and yellow, all sizes from {pstlg}8·99. |
| 1960 Spectator 30 Sept. 493/2 The Brookes..stayed a hundred years as landgraves of an impoverished swatch of *rain-jungle. 1964 R. Perry World of Tiger i. 3 There are..less than four thousand scattered over India,..from Goa to the rain-jungles of Assam. |
| 1880 Black White Wings xx, There is a deeper gloom overhead; the *rain-king is upon us. |
| 1928 C. F. S. Gamble Story N. Sea Air Station xv. 249 *Rain load also had to be reckoned with, which may go as far as 3,000 kg. |
| 1767 Huxham in Phil. Trans. LVII. 446 One of the Thermometers is kept..without Doors in the *Rain Machine. |
| 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 46 A general view of the rainfall..is presented by the accompanying *rain-map. |
| 1867 Lyell Princ. Geol. ii. xv. I. 335 Tracks of worms..occasionally pass under the middle of a *rain-mark. |
| 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 270/2 Foot-prints, *rain-pits, and hollows of every kind. |
| 1871 A. C. Ramsay in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XXVII. 250 The presence of sun-cracks and *rain-pittings in the Longmynd beds. 1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 294/1 Sun-cracks, Rain-pittings, &c.—Proofs may not infrequently be found that during deposition aqueous strata have been laid bare to air and sun. |
| 1817 T. Forster Nat. Hist. Swallowtribe (ed. 6) 86 Charadrius pluvialis. Golden plover..*Rainplover. |
| 1859 Page Geol. Terms *Rain-Prints. 1882 Geikie Text-bk. Geol. iv. i. 486 Ripple-marks, rain-prints, or sun-cracks. |
| 1884 A. J. Evans in Archæologia XLIX. 106 The Roman *rain-procession,..described by Petronius. |
| 1902 H. J. Mackinder Britain & Brit. Seas 165 This dryness to leeward of the heights has been termed their *rain-shadow. 1955 Sci. News Let. 2 Apr. 212/1 Prevailing winds..smack against the mountains, and are then forced down the eastern slopes. These winds are so strong they keep warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico from penetrating deep inland. The air is sinking rather than rising. Result: no moisture falls. Weathermen call this effect the rain shadow. 1974 M. Peissel Great Himalayan Passage vi. 112 This entire area is within what is known as the ‘rain-shadow’ of the Himalayas, a sheltered spot where clouds never break. |
| 1936 Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXVII. 11 Valley routes have certain advantages as well as disadvantages for air travel. Among their advantages I would put..the finer weather, owing to local *rain-shadowing. |
| 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 530 Round depressions resembling the impress of *rain-spots on soft sand. |
| 1897 W. E. Roth Ethnol. Stud. N.-W.-Central Queensland Aborigines xii. 167 The rain-stick, koo-roo-mun-do, is formed of a thin piece of a species of ‘white’ wood, about 20 inches long, on to the top of which is fixed a mass of the ordinary cementing-substance: into this the three ‘*rain-stones’, pieces of white quartz-crystal, are stuck. 1932 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Dec. 915/2 Such rain-stones may be of quartz, of which the transparency is suggestive of water. 1975 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 2 Feb. 3/1 When the medicine man..wishes to produce rain he plunges his rain-stone in water, takes a split-top peeled cane in hand and beckons with it to the clouds. |
| 1965 Harper's Bazaar Feb. 39 News now, the *rainsuit, newer still if it's trousers. 1966 Daily Tel. 14 Nov. 10/7 Not certain of the weather? Then for town or country a rainsuit could be the answer. 1974 M. Hoyt 30 Miles for Ice Cream x. 114 So I, for one, wear the rubber pants of a rain suit when I'm shanty-fishing. 1977 New Yorker 27 June 74/2 Six miles downstream, I had added..a rain suit, hood to heel. |
| 1907 R. S. Rattray Some Folklore Stories & Songs in Chinyanja ii. ix. 118 Next morning at dawn everyone comes together and they go to the *rain temple. 1911 J. G. Frazer Golden Bough: Magic Art (ed. 3) I. v. 250 When the rains do not come..the people of Central Angoniland repair to what is called the rain-temple. |
| 1878 Nature XVII. 349/1 The Tamia-caspia, or *rain tree of the Eastern Peruvian Andes. 1879 Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. No. 13. 75 Brunefelsia pubescens Rain-tree... Flowers odorous before rain. 1911 Chambers's Jrnl. Feb. 206/1 The rain⁓tree..can withstand extreme climatic fluctuations, needs but little care in its cultivation, and grows rapidly. 1924 Record & Mell Timbers Trop. Amer. 204 The ‘samán’ or rain tree..belongs to this genus. 1939 R. C. Marshall Silviculture Trinidad & Tobago 119 Rain Tree..is a short-boled tree with an enormous wide spreading crown. 1961 20th Cent. Jan. 64 Rain-trees, whose leaves close up at night, enfolding moisture which in the morning the unfurling foliage discharges. 1963 [see guango]. 1969 [see monkey-pod (tree) s.v. monkey n. 18 b]. 1975 Bangladesh Observer 25 July 5/6 Rain-tree..is found in abundance all over Bangladesh. 1976 Hortus Third (L. H. Bailey Hortorium) 185/2 Brunfelsia..undulata..Rain tree. Slender, evergreen shrub. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Rayne volte, Compluuius lacus. |
| 1876 A. H. Green Phys. Geol. iii. §2. 112 These accumulations of rain-borne decomposed rock go by the general term of ‘*Rain-wash’. 1896 Geol. Mag. Oct. 466 The rain and rain-wash loosen the light soil below and about the roots. 1942 Rain-wash [see bad lands]. 1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. vii. 80/1 In his view all the components of the schist except the quartz and gold and such resistant heavy minerals as zircon were reduced to clay and generally removed by rain-wash. 1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 81/1 Because of the dominance of rainwash over other erosional forces, these features are most common in warmer climates. |
| 1953 P. C. Berg Dict. New Words 134/1 *Rainwear, garments suited for wearing in rain; e.g. ‘Britain's Best Rainwear’. 1958 People 4 May 15/7 (Advt.), Have your suit for {pstlg}1 down and add whatever else you need—rainwear, shoes, shirts, sportswear, etc. to your account. 1975 Country Life 6 Feb. 347/3 Ismat also sell..T-shirts and rainwear. 1977 J. Aiken Last Movement i. 33 It was still pouring, so..Gina..put herself back into her red plastic rainwear. |
▪ II. rain, n.2 Obs. exc. dial. (
reɪn)
Forms: 5–7
reyne, 6
raine,
rayn(e, 9
dial. rein,
rain. See also
rean.
[a. ON. rein (Norw. rein, Sw. and Da. ren) = MLG. rein, OHG. rain, rein (G. rain), strip of land, esp. one left unploughed between fields or ridges, a balk, etc. Da. ren has also the sense of ‘furrow’ which is prominent in Eng.] 1. A strip of land, a ridge; a division between lands or fields.
| 1481 in Ripon Ch. Acts (Surtees) 346 Layland Raynes—Lidale Rayne—Turff-car Rayne—&c. 1541 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 194 Et in decasu firmæ unius Rane voc. Sayntwilfryd Rane ad 10s. per annum 10s. 4d. 1608 in Peel Spen Valley (1893) 125 Followinge a certaine rayne or hedge devydinge Gomersall and Liversedge. 1819 in Sheffield Gloss. s.v., A line across meadows where has formerly been a hedge or a road is called the rain. |
2. A furrow between the ridges or lands in a field.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §7 He seeth not, whether the plough go in rydge or rayne. a 1600 Wynne Hist. Gwedir Fam. (1878) 54 They reaped the corne that grew in the raine..as the corne in the ridge was not readie. 1611 Cotgr., Seillon,..the narrow trench, reyne, or furrow, left betweene butt and butt for the drayning thereof. 1844 Palin in Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. i. 59 Commencing in the rein of the former butts and making the former ridges into reins. |
† b. A small stream or ditch.
Obs. rare—0.
| 1611 Cotgr., Ardoüe, a little brooke, or reyne, that gently runnes along a field. |
▪ III. rain, v. (
reɪn)
Forms: 1 (
h)reᵹnian, 2–3
rein-, 3
reȝȝn-, 4
regne,
reigne,
reine, 4–5
reyne, 4–6
rayne, 4–7
Sc. rane, 4–7
raine, 5
reyn,
reygne, (6
raigne, 7
reign), 3–
rain.
[OE. reᵹnian (rare) = MDu. reghenen (Du. regenen), OHG. reganôn (MHG. regenen, regnen, G. regnen), ON. regna (Sw. regna, Da. regne), f. reᵹn rain n.1 The usual form in OE. was the causative riᵹnan, r{iacu}nan rine v.] I. Intransitive senses.
1. a. Impersonally.
it rains: rain falls. Also in proverbial
phr. it never rains but it pours.
to go (or come) in when it rains (
U.S.): to take measures for one's own safety; to exercise ordinary prudence; to shift for oneself (
cf. rain n.1 1 b).
| c 1200 Ormin 8694 He badd o Drihhtin Godd Þat itt ta shollde reȝȝnen. 13.. K. Alis. 6450 Whan hit snywith, other rayneth. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 380 Þof hit rayne on þo auter of þo parische chirche. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas iii. xxiv. 95 It may nother blowe thereon, nor reyn. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccvii. 244 For moost part day and night it reyned without cease. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 13 It rained very hard. 1711 Swift Lett. (1767) III. 151 It rained so this evening again, that I thought I should hardly be able to get a dry hour to walk home in. 1854 Earl Carlisle Diary 115 It has really taken to rain rather frequently. 1882 Ouida Maremma I. 197 If it would only have rained, how welcome it would have been. |
| Phr. 1726 Arbuthnot (title) It cannot rain but it pours; or London strow'd with rarities. a 1852 F. M. Whitcher Widow Bedott Papers (1856) iii. 36 He was a saftly feller—dident scarcely know enough to go in when it rained. 1866 ‘Mark Twain’ Lett. from Sandwich Islands (1937) 84 A..majority..that knew just about enough to come in when it rained. 1873 ― Choice Humorous Wks. iii. 524, I perceive that thou art none of them that know not to come in when it doth rain. 1893 Earl Dunmore Pamirs I. 292 As it never rains but it pours, news of another disaster was rife in the city in the evening. 1906 Springfield (Mass.) Weekly Republ. 12 July 2 Every citizen of Vermont who is capable of going in when it rains ought to understand [etc.]. 1923 E. F. Wyatt Invis. Gods i. ii. 19 Hetherington Marshfield, who doesn't know enough to go in when it rains! |
b. In indirect passive. Const.
on,
upon.
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xxii. 24 Thou art the vnclene loond, not reynyd togidir [Coverdale, etc. rayned vpon] in the dai of woodnes. 1561 Winȝet Cert. Tractates Wks. 1888 I. 14 Ane vnclene land, quhilk is not raynit vpon. 1840 [R. E. Hill] Pinch of Snuff 129 Carrying a duck in a rained-upon sedan chair. 1925 R. Torrence Hesperides 60, I was weak as a rained-on bee. 1937 Burlington Mag. June 262/1 Rained-on, as it were, by Nature. 1972 J. Gores Dead Skip xvi. 113 Two big recently rained-on cardboard boxes of trash. |
2. Of the Deity, the sky, clouds, etc.: To send or pour down rain.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. v. 45 He..hreᵹnað [Rushw. reᵹneð] ofer soðfæsta & unsoðfæste. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. 284/235 Þat weder bi-gan to reinie faste. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 502 Þe walken shop hym for to reyne. 1382 Wyclif Gen. ii. 5 The Lord God forsothe had not reyned vpon the erthe. a 1550 Droichis Part of Play 35 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 315 The skyis raind quhen he wald [scowle]. 1605 Shakes. Lear iii. vii. 62 Poore old heart, he holpe the Heauens to raine. 1697 Dryden æneid Ded. b 4, They make æneas..a kind of a St. Swithen Heroe, always raining. 1833 Tennyson Lady of Shalott iv. i, Heavily the low sky raining Over tower'd Camelot. |
| fig. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 59 To raine vpon Remembrance with mine Eyes, That it may grow, and sprowt. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xv. 107 Good reason therefore Northern Scholars should be most watered there, where Northern Benefactours rained most. |
| transf. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining 198 An underground place is said to rain when water drops freely from the roof. |
3. Of rain: To fall.
| a 1300–1400 Cursor M. 1835 (Gött.) Þis rain rained euer onane. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 333 The reyne þat reyneth þere we reste sholde. c 1440 Gesta Rom. lvi. 239 (Harl. MS.) Yf..þe Reyne Rayne vppon boþe myn yen [etc.]. 1523 [see gosling 1. Prov.]. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. v. i. 401 The raine it raineth every day. 1777 Brand Pop. Antiq. 53 Happy (says the Proverb) is..the Corpse the Rain rains on. |
4. transf. a. Of substances other than water: To fall from the sky or through the air in the manner of rain,
esp. in small particles.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 99 God let hem reine manne. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2623 Þre dayes in his tyme reyned blod. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 1477 Manna also y{supt} in desert reynyde. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ii. iii. §33 Bloud reigned in some parts of the Land. 1820 Shelley Vis. Sea 29 The intense thunder-balls which are raining from heaven. 1842 Tennyson Sir Galahad 12 Perfume and flowers fall in showers, That lightly rain from ladies' hands. |
b. Of tears: To fall like rain.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1336 The terys which þat fro myn eyen reyne. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. v. 166 On his graue raines many a teare. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 1122 They sate them down to weep, nor onely Teares Rained at thir Eyes. 1860 Thackeray Lovel vi, Genuine tears rained down her yellow cheeks. |
c. Of immaterial things: To descend, fall, come, etc., in a manner comparable to the fall of rain.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xv. 24 Grace groweth nat til goode wil gynne reyne. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. v, The foyson & plente Of kyngly fredom..So fulsomely gan there to reygne and snowe. 1535 Coverdale Job xx. 23 God shal..cause his battayll to rayne ouer him. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iii. ii, The curse of Heaven raines In plagues unlimited through all his daies. 1801 J. Adams Wks. (1854) IX. 585 Ennui, when it rains on a man in large drops, is worse than one of our north-east storms. 1847 Tennyson Princ. v. 490 As from a giant's flail, The large blows rain'd. |
5. it rains in: rain enters or penetrates. Also
transf. with other subjects (
cf. 4).
| 1596 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 270 Mendinge the church porch and over hed above where it did rayne in. 1664 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 95 The Impluvium or open Part where it rained in. 1771 Foote Maid of B. ii. Wks. 1799 II. 222 The house..is a little out of repair; not that it rains in..at above five or six places. 1865 W. G. Palgrave Arabia I. 72 Invitations rained in on all sides. |
II. Transitive senses.
6. a. Impersonally.
it rains: There is a shower of (something falling from above or through the air).
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 98 (MS. C) Þach hit reine arewen, ich habe a nede erende. c 1275 Lay. 3895 Þreo daiȝes hit reinede blod. a 1400–50 Alexander 566 Þen rekils it vnruydly & raynes doune stanys. 1535 Coverdale Luke xvii. 29 It rayned fyre and brymstone from heauen. 1596 Barlow Three Serm. iii. 141 In Bauaria it rained corne, of which much bread was baked. 1653 Walton Angler vii. 152 It should rain none but water Frogs. 1738– [see cat and dog 2]. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Rain, [They] acounted it a miracle that it rained earth and sulphur upon them. 1821 Shelley Hellas 604 It has rained blood. 1871 W. D. Howells in Atlantic Monthly Dec. 722/2 It was raining one of those cold rains. |
| fig. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. i. 47 It rain'd downe Fortune showring on your head. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. iii. xiii. 85 Bestow'd his lips on that vnworthy place, As it rain'd kisses. 1746 H. Walpole Lett. (1857) II. 24 Why, it rains princes. 1876 C. M. Davies Unorth. Lond. (ed. 2) 110 It has positively rained tracts. |
b. Phr.
if it should rain porridge, he would want his dish and
varr., denoting a person's recurrent bad luck or management.
| 1670 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Proverbs 191 If it should rain pottage, he would want his dish. 1732 T. Fuller Gnomologia 112 If it should rain Porridge, he'd want a Dish. 1889 C. H. Spurgeon Salt-Cellars 257 If it rained porridge, the lazy man would have no basin. 1950 K. S. Prichard Winged Seeds ii. 29 Unluckiest man ever I knew. If it was raining pea soup, he'd only have a fork. 1970 R. Beilby No Medals for Aphrodite (1971) v. 169 Gawd, we're an unlucky battalion, we are. If it was rainin' virgins we'd be washed away with a poofta, dinkum! |
7. a. Of personal or other agents: To pour or shower down (something falling through the air like rain).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 2841 Ouer lauerd raind o þam..Dun o lift, fire and brinstan. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 183 The myhti god began to reyne Manna fro hevene doun to grounde. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 166 b, Iupiter in fourme of a shoure raynyng droppes of golde. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 21 Let the skie raine Potatoes. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 119 Nor shaken Oaks such Show'rs of Acorns rain. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 312 He could have rained us food from heaven. 1818 Keats Endym. ii. 427 Another [Cupid]..Rain'd violets upon his sleeping eyes. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxi. IV. 591 He rained shells and redhot bullets on the city. 1939 Ann. Reg. 1938 260 Air-raids rained bombs on Barcelona, Tarragona, and a number of peaceful seaside towns where there was no trace of any military objective. 1977 Time 14 Mar. 53/1 Fans rained bottles and cans on to the ground. |
| fig. 1882 Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 9 Raining coronets upon their heads and wealth into their coffers. |
b. To shed (tears) copiously.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 819 Raining the teares of lamentation. 1820 Shelley Ode to Liberty viii, What if the tears rained through thy shattered locks Were quickly dried? 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 240 His eyes rain tears. |
c. With immaterial object.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xvii. 13 Prechours, þe whilk..raynes down godis word till oþer. 1382 Wyclif Job xx. 23 That he..reyne vp on hym his bataile. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxix. x, Downe upon them fury raine. 1632 Milton L'Allegro 122 Ladies, whose bright eies Rain influence. 1726 Pope Odyss. xvii. 49 Rains kisses on his neck, his face, his eyes. 1820 Shelley Skylark 30 The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is over-flowed. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 152 The blows rained by practised pugilists on one another. |
8. a. In
pass.: To be showered down.
rare.
| 1647 Hammond Power of Keys vii. 140 Manna ceased to be rain'd from heaven. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters II. 28 Sometimes salt instead of fresh water has been rained in different places. |
b. pass. and intr. Of particulate matter: to be removed from the atmosphere as a result of being incorporated into raindrops as they form.
Cf. rain-out.
| 1975 Nature 13 Nov. 134/2 The importance of this observation is that it makes nonsense of the assumption..that practically everything that can..be rained out as air ascends into the stratosphere, actually is rained out and thus removed. 1979 McGraw-Hill Yearbk. Sci. & Technol. 153/1 The 3H generated was largely injected into the upper atmosphere, from which it ‘rained out’ into the oceanic-hydrologic system. |
9. a. With complement: To bring into a specified condition by raining.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxlii. 6 My saule..draghis til þe noght til þe warld, þat may noght wete it, forþi þou rayne it ful of grace. c 1440 Gesta Rom. lvi. 239 (Harl. MS.) Yf..þe Reyne Rayne vppon boþe myn yen, yee, me hadde leuer let hit Reyne hem oute of the hede, than I turnid me. a 1903 Mod. It will probably rain itself out before morning. 1924 C. Mackenzie Old Men of Sea ii. 17 The sky had rained itself out. 1944 T. D. Clark Pills, Petticoats & Plows 88 Behind him at home was a cotton crop which had been rained out. 1976 G. Moffat Short Time to Live ix. 85 She was a walker rained off the hill. |
b. to be rained out (
U.S.) or
rained off, of an outdoor event (
esp. a match), an airline flight, etc.: to be terminated or cancelled because of rain. So
rained-off a.| 1928 Chicago Tribune 18 June 27/7 (heading) Sox, Boston series final is rained out. 1937 Sun (Baltimore) 18 May 17/8 Today's [baseball] game was rained out. 1955 Times 24 May 10/2 An open-air meeting was rained off, but pickets patrolled the dock entrances carrying sandwich boards. 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day i. 20 Their tiny tragedies—a rained-off picnic, a broken toy. 1964 Observer 12 Jan. 32/1 Rain check..is the receipt or counterfoil of a ticket taken for a baseball game which entitles you to see another match if the one you wanted to see is ‘rained off’. 1969 ‘E. Lathen’ When in Greece ix. 98 Unfortunately the planes are rained out, but the train should get her here before midnight. 1974 Union (S. Carolina) Daily Times 19 Apr. 6/1 In the American League..Minnesota clipped California 3–2 and Baltimore's game at Detroit was rained out. 1977 ‘J. Le Carré’ Hon. Schoolboy xvi. 399 Watching a rained-off cricket match where the contestants wanted only to go back to the pavilion. Ibid. xxii. 525 The match was rained off... Another date would be fixed. Stand by, they said. |
† 10. To wet with rain.
Obs. rare—1.
| c 1440 York Myst. xiv. 18 Þe walles are doune on ilke a side, Þe ruffe is rayned aboven oure hede. |
▪ IV. rain var. raign v.
Obs.;
obs. f. rane n.,
reign,
rein n. and v.