precipitation

American  

[pri-sip-i-tay-shuhn] / prɪˌsɪp ɪˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

• precipitations
  plural

1. the act of precipitating; state of being precipitated.

2. a casting down or falling headlong.

3. a hastening or hurrying in movement, procedure, or action.

4. sudden haste.

5. unwise or rash rapidity.

6. Meteorology.

   1. falling products of condensation in the atmosphere, as rain, snow, or hail.

   2. the amount of rain, snow, hail, etc., that has fallen at a given place within a given period, usually expressed in inches or centimeters of water.

7. Chemistry, Physics. the precipitating of a substance from a solution.

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precipitation British  

/ prɪˌsɪpɪˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. meteorol

   1. rain, snow, sleet, dew, etc, formed by condensation of water vapour in the atmosphere

   2. the deposition of these on the earth's surface

   3. the amount precipitated

2. the production or formation of a chemical precipitate

3. the act of precipitating or the state of being precipitated

4. rash or undue haste

5. spiritualism the appearance of a spirit in bodily form; materialization

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precipitation Scientific  

/ prĭ-sĭp′ĭ-tā′shən /

1. A form of water, such as rain, snow, or sleet, that condenses from the atmosphere, becomes too heavy to remain suspended, and falls to the Earth's surface. Different atmospheric conditions are responsible for the different forms of precipitation.

2. The process by which a substance is separated out of a solution as a solid. Precipitation occurs either by the action of gravity or through a chemical reaction that forms an insoluble compound out of two or more soluble compounds.

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precipitation Cultural  

1. In meteorology, the fall of water, ice, or snow deposited on the surface of the Earth from the atmosphere. In chemistry, a chemical reaction in a solution in which a solid material is formed and subsequently falls, as a precipitate, to the bottom of the container.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonprecipitation
  noun
• self-precipitation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• precipitations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of precipitation

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Latin praecipitātiōn-, stem of praecipitātiō “a casting down headlong,” equivalent to praecipitāt(us) “cast down headlong” (past participle of praecipitāre see precipitate) + -iō -ion

Explanation

Precipitation is rain, snow, sleet, or hail — any kind of weather condition where something's falling from the sky. Precipitation has to do with things falling down, and not just from the sky. It's also what happens in chemical reactions when a solid settles to the bottom of a solution. If you have hard water where you live, you might find lime deposits — a flaky white crust — on your faucets and showerhead. That's caused by precipitation of the minerals in the water. The minerals settle out — they precipitate — and clog the pipes.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

precipitation precipitations

"With the right conditions, cloud seeding squeeze out about an extra five to 10% of precipitation," says Jon Meyer, an assistant state climatologist with the Utah Climate Center.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

We’re having to reinforce roads to deal with extreme heat or extreme precipitation.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

Some elements of the water cycle change rapidly -- like precipitation, river flow and soil moisture, responding to weather within days or weeks.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

From mid-May through mid-July, most of Puerto Rico received less than 60 percent of its normal precipitation, according to NIDIS.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

Sierra watched the speckles of precipitation jangle and spin beneath a lamppost.

From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older

It looked at both extreme events and low-onset climate change, including coastal erosion, marine flooding, sea-level rise and extremes, soil and groundwater salinization, inland flooding resulting from heavy precipitations, and permafrost thaw.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2023

They obtained a ton of pitchblende from the Austrian Government, began a long series of crushings, pulverizations, leachings, precipitations, crystallizations with apparatus at which a modern physicist would sneer.

From Time Magazine Archive

These snows are, in fact, precipitations of vapor, condensed by the cold, and carried with it successively.

From The Certainty of a Future Life in Mars by L. P. Gratacap

But that series of precipitations had not yet taken place.

From Mushroom Town by Oliver Onions

A special hall, with draught and ventilation, is set apart for precipitations by sulphureted hydrogen and the preparation of chlorine and other ill-smelling and deleterious gases.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 443, June 28, 1884 by Various

Related Words

• drizzle
• rain
• rainfall
• rainstorm
• sleet
• snow
• storm