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
She was understanding and said she'd brought a raincoat.
From BBC • Aug. 2, 2025
Davidsen starts this “Salome” in a back room of the brutalist set where Herod’s orgy is taking place, wearing a white raincoat, her black hair stringy in a Goth look.
From Seattle Times • May 13, 2024
Later, she danced with a yellow raincoat over her head.
From New York Times • Mar. 18, 2024
If she isn’t home, I walk down to the end of the historic cobbled street and find her standing on the sea wall in her raincoat and no shoes, glaring at the ocean.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
