rain

n. & v. Reign. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To pour or shower down from above, like rain from the clouds. [ 1913 Webster ]

Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. Ex. xvi. 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To bestow in a profuse or abundant manner; as, to rain favors upon a person. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. regenboga, akin to G. regenbogen. See Rain, and Bow anything bent. ] A bow or arch exhibiting, in concentric bands, the several colors of the spectrum, and formed in the part of the hemisphere opposite to the sun by the refraction and reflection of the sun's rays in drops of falling rain. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Besides the ordinary bow, called also primary rainbow, which is formed by two refractions and one reflection, there is also another often seen exterior to it, called the secondary rainbow, concentric with the first, and separated from it by a small interval. It is formed by two refractions and two reflections, is much fainter than the primary bow, and has its colors arranged in the reverse order from those of the latter. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lunar rainbow, a fainter arch or rainbow, formed by the moon. --
Marine rainbow,
Sea bow, a similar bow seen in the spray of waves at sea. --
Rainbow trout (Zool.), a bright-colored trout (Salmo irideus), native of the mountains of California, but now extensively introduced into the Eastern States, Japan, and other countries; -- called also brook trout, mountain trout, and golden trout. --
Rainbow wrasse. (Zool.) See under Wrasse. --
Supernumerary rainbow, a smaller bow, usually of red and green colors only, sometimes seen within the primary or without the secondary rainbow, and in contact with them. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Formed with or like a rainbow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) See Reindeer. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A drop of rain. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A fall or descent of rain; the water, or amount of water, that falls in rain; as, the average annual rainfall of a region. [ 1913 Webster ]

Supplied by the rainfall of the outer ranges of Sinchul and Singaleleh. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]