often attributive
rained; raining; rains
1
: to send down rain
2
: to fall as water in drops from the clouds
3
: to fall like rain
soot and ash rained down
Examples of rain in a Sentence
Noun
The weatherman forecasts rain for this afternoon.
Everyone went inside when the rain began to fall.
What the garden needs is a good, soaking rain.
A light rain began to fall.
There has been some flooding due to the recent heavy rains.
We've had a week of rain.
The rains came and flooded the valley.
Verb
Sparks from the fireworks rained on the field.
The volcano rained ashes on the city.
Recent Examples on the Web
Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
The move comes as Category 5 Hurricane Melissa bears down on Cuba and much of the Caribbean this week, promising to bring powerful winds, rain and storm surges.
—Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
Eric Koreen, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Afterward, Tharp joined Copeland on stage, a bouquet of flowers in hand — the first of many, many colleagues and collaborators emerging from the wings to congratulate Copeland, as golden confetti rained down and the pile of bouquets on the stage swelled.
—Kristen Tauer, Footwear News, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rain
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
Depending on the depth, their skeletons can take up to fifty years to descend—a gentle rain continuously falling in all the world’s oceans since at least the Middle Cambrian era, over 500 million years ago.
—Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
The move comes as Category 5 Hurricane Melissa bears down on Cuba and much of the Caribbean this week, promising to bring powerful winds, rain and storm surges.
—Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
Verb
Before the basketball game ended, the Raptors put the score on the big screen several times, and boos rained down when public address announcer Herbie Kuhn told fans the Dodgers had scored the game’s first run.
—Eric Koreen, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Afterward, Tharp joined Copeland on stage, a bouquet of flowers in hand — the first of many, many colleagues and collaborators emerging from the wings to congratulate Copeland, as golden confetti rained down and the pile of bouquets on the stage swelled.
—Kristen Tauer, Footwear News, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rain
Cite this Entry
“Rain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rain. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
rain
2 of 2 verb1
: to fall as water in drops from the clouds
2
: to send down rain
3
: to fall like rain
ashes rained from the volcano
4
: to give in large amounts
rained blows on each other
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share