raincoat
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of raincoat
Explanation
The waterproof jacket you throw on before heading out on a drizzly gray day is a raincoat. If you're traveling to India during monsoon season, be sure to pack your raincoat! Simply put, a raincoat is a coat that protects you from getting drenched in the rain. You might also call it a "slicker" or a "rain jacket." Some raincoats are truly waterproof, while others are merely water resistant — these will keep you dry for a while but are less useful if you're walking miles in a downpour. The original "modern" raincoat was invented in 1824 by a Scottish chemist who layered fabric and rubber to create a new waterproof material.
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.
The Colombian American soulstress has played many roles in her songs: a baddie, a psychic, a woman adrift at sea in a yellow raincoat.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025
"I've never had so much use for my umbrella in my life, and I carry my raincoat everywhere I go."
From BBC • Aug. 28, 2024
By the middle of the week, you’ll want to pack a raincoat.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 25, 2024
Gaunt men and “children, big-eyed and thin,” walked up and clutched the rabbi’s raincoat.
From Slate • Jan. 28, 2024
He brushed by a gaunt, cadaverous, trustful man in a black raincoat with a star-shaped scar in his cheek and a glossy mutilated depression the size of an egg in one temple.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
