rainstorm
nounUK /ˈɹeɪnstɔːm/ · US /ˈɹeɪnstɔɹm/
Etymology From rain + storm.
1
A storm characterized by substantial, heavy rainfall.
- Philander went into the next room[…]and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
- To make matters worse, we pass through a torrential rainstorm, which makes window-gazing almost impossible, leaving me glad that the trip is less than 30 minutes duration.2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 55:
- Derived terms
- rainstormy
- Related terms
- deluge, hailstorm, snowstorm, thunderstorm