rainwater
noun
water fallen as rain.
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rainwater
1 American
[reyn-waw-ter, -wot-er]
/ ˈreɪnˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /
noun
Rainwater
2
American
[reyn-waw-ter, -wot-er]
/ ˈreɪnˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /
noun
rainwater
British
/ ˈreɪnˌwɔːtə /
noun
Etymology
Origin of rainwater
before 1000; Middle English rein water, Old English regn-wæter; see rain, water
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.
See Examples For:
Even so, parts of northern Sputnik Planitia have been darkened in patterns that resemble features seen on terrestrial glaciers after they are exposed to rainwater or to liquid emerging from beneath the ice.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
BORDEAUX, France—For 700 years, Château Carbonnieux relied on rainwater to nourish its grapes, a tradition that preserved the vineyard’s connection to the local terroir.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Store your wheelbarrow inside your shed so rainwater can’t collect.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
The charity added compaction made it harder for rainwater to penetrate the soil and for the tree's root system to take in the oxygen and nutrients it needed.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
A wild gust of wind drove a tankardful of rainwater down Tristran's neck.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Rainwater is harvested from the greenhouse roofs and in response to changing weather patterns, the company are now beginning to recycle that water, and the nutrients it contains, for secondary use.
From BBC ● May 14, 2026
The study was funded by the Rainwater Charitable Foundation/Tau Consortium, the National Institutes of Health and other sources.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 3, 2026
Joseph Shaposhnik, portfolio manager of the Rainwater Equity ETF, substantially reduced his exposure to software names over the summer, including selling most of his position in Constellation Software Inc.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 4, 2026
Rainwater, ice and glacier meltwater accumulate in Suicide Basin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2025
Rainwater purls from cloud to roof to eave.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
