Raining Cats and Dogs

Get ready to make a splash with this rainy-day lexicon — a downpour of words that'll have you singing in the rain and dancing in puddles, because when it rains, it pours...with puns!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. acid rain
    precipitation with toxic gas emissions combined with water
    Oh, and by the way, the loons are disappearing everywhere because their lakes are dying from acid rain. A Walk in the Woods
  2. avalanche
    a sudden appearance of an overwhelming number of things
    It worked—a minor avalanche of rocks rained onto the street below. The Glass Castle
  3. barrage
    an overwhelming or vigorous outpouring
    The canoe, and us clinging on with every ounce of strength, spun in the barrage of churning water. City of the Plague God
  4. bedraggled
    limp, untidy, and soiled
    Daddy looked at me, wet, bedraggled, and exhausted. While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement
  5. cascade
    rush down in big quantities
    Water cascaded off roofs, splashed loudly onto the sidewalks, and ran in burbling rivers through the streets. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793
  6. cloudburst
    a heavy rain
    The storm turned out to be a cloudburst, and an island where we were going to spend the night was flooded. On the Far Side of the Mountain
  7. deluge
    a heavy rain
    The sky was nothing but falling water, a ceaseless deluge that wrinkled and bloated my skin and froze me stiff. Life of Pi
  8. downpour
    a heavy rain
    One good thing, between the downpour and the flooded banks, all signs of his hiding place have been wiped out. The Hunger Games
  9. drench
    cover with liquid; pour liquid onto
    When the rain came, it lashed down in curtains, drumming into the cliff and drenching the little islet. The Boy Who Met a Whale
  10. drizzle
    very light rain
    The starlight was gone, clouds were everywhere, and there was a drizzle falling. Facing the Lion
  11. drop
    a small indefinite quantity, especially of a liquid
    It was getting darker rapidly, and the first big drops of rain splashed onto his head and hands. The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage
  12. flood
    cover with liquid, usually water
    The rivers flood in the rainy season, enriching the land, Nile Delta style. 1491
  13. flurry
    a light brief snowfall
    Over the next several days, temperatures dropped into the teens, snow flurries turned into light snowstorms, which in turn became full-scale blizzards. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
  14. hail
    precipitation of ice pellets
    Cold, rain, sleet, hail, and snow they simply ignored. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
  15. hurricane
    a severe tropical cyclone usually with heavy rains and winds
    The hurricane must be bad to get Mom and Dad to head to Houston. I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005
  16. monsoon
    heavy rain accompanied by wind
    Now that the monsoon had come, everything was damp. Homeless Bird
  17. patter
    rain gently
    He fell forward onto his hands and beads of sweat fell from his face to patter on the ground like rain. The Name of the Wind
  18. pelt
    rain heavily
    Raindrops pelted the window, making it hard to fall asleep. Breaking Through
  19. precipitation
    the falling to earth of any form of water
    To begin with, not all of the ‘Amazonian rainforest” is rainy—parts of it receive little more precipitation per year than New York City. 1491
  20. puddle
    a small body of standing water (rainwater) or other liquid
    We see the sad trees, with their autumnal leaves dripping rain, the grey sky reflected in the puddles on the road. Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers
  21. rain cats and dogs
    rain heavily
    It's raining cats and dogs, and we can't get much wetter. Barnum, Vance
  22. rain check
    a ticket entitling the holder to admission to a future event
    “Can we take a rain check on those chili-cheese dogs?” he asked. The Parker Inheritance
  23. rainforest
    a densely wooded tropical area with heavy precipitation
    Trekkers visiting the Siberian tundra, the deserts of central Australia and the Amazonian rainforest believe that they have entered pristine landscapes, virtually untouched by human hands. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
  24. salvo
    an outburst resembling the discharge of firearms
    Every day, the first minutes of class would be filled by harsh salvos of criticism aimed at Mr. Loring’s round, assailable figure leaning against his lectern. The Great Santini
  25. sleet
    precipitation consisting of a mixture of rain and snow
    Snow and sleet blew horizontally, battering our faces. Salt to the Sea
  26. spate
    a sudden forceful flow
    Rills of water began to run down; soon they grew to a spate that splashed and fumed on the stones, and spouted out over the cliff like the gutters of a vast roof. The Two Towers
  27. sprinkle
    a light shower that falls in certain locations
    A late-afternoon sprinkle had stirred up the dust, and now a slow breeze carried in an almost-radiant smell of dust and dry pinon pine and sage. The Milagro Beanfield War
  28. squall
    sudden violent winds, often accompanied by precipitation
    A gale blew up with snow squalls and heavy seas, and waves broke incessantly over the boat. Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World
  29. torrent
    a heavy rain
    The huge waves still pounded them, the torrents of water still poured down, but the worst was over. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
  30. torrential
    relating to or resulting from the action of a downpour
    The family watched footage of enormous waves, uprooted trees, whole towns washed grey with torrential rain. Zeitoun
Created on Tue Mar 19 17:06:24 EDT 2024 (updated Tue Apr 02 14:26:06 EDT 2024)

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