rain cats and dogs

1. Also, rain buckets. Rain very heavily, as in It was raining cats and dogs so I couldn't walk to the store, or It's been raining buckets all day. The precise allusion in the first term, which dates from the mid-1600s, has been lost, but it probably refers to gutters overflowing with debris that included sewage, garbage, and dead animals. Richard Brome used a version of this idiom in his play The City Wit (c. 1652), where a character pretending a knowledge of Latin translates wholly by ear, “Regna bitque /and it shall rain, Dogmata Polla Sophon /dogs and polecats and so forth.” The variant presumably alludes to rain heavy enough to fill pails.

Example Sentences

“But we’ve had nine powerful back-to-back storms rip through the county over the past week alone. Unfortunately, when it’s raining cats and dogs, there’s not a lot we can do but wait it out.”

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According to the poll, only 9% say they always use an umbrella to keep themselves dry when it’s raining cats and dogs.

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For example, if he hears the expression “It’s raining cats and dogs,” he expects tabbies and terriers to fall from the skies.

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“Our wedding was so beautiful, even though it was raining cats and dogs that day,” she said.

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"The story of 'raining cats and dogs' has invited many colourful tales over the centuries," says Dent.

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