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it never rains but it pours

  1. When something occurs it often does so to excess. For example, First Aunt Sue said she and Uncle Harry were coming for the weekend and then my sister and her children said they were coming too—it never rains but it pours. This expression may have come from either a book by Queen Anne's physician, John Arbuthnot, or an article by Jonathan Swift, both entitled It Cannot Rain But It Pours and both published in 1726.



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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It never rains, but it pours if you're a local councillor.

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In my Hudson Valley, N.Y., garden, this year has invoked many aphorisms, chief among them, “It never rains but it pours.”

Read more on Seattle Times

It never rains but it pours.... my NHS app has just gone off, telling me to self-isolate, which I'm doing.

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The Weston-super-Mare MP said on Twitter: "It never rains but it pours... my NHS app has just gone off, telling me to self-isolate, which I'm doing."

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In Alicante it never rains but it pours.

Read more on The Guardian

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