rainforest

or rain for·est

[ reyn-fawr-ist, ‐for‐ ]

/ ˈreɪnˌfɔr ɪst, ‐ˌfɒr‐ /

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noun

a tropical forest, usually of tall, densely growing, broad-leaved evergreen trees in an area of high annual rainfall.

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Also called trop·i·cal rain·for·est .

Origin of rainforest

First recorded in 1900–05

Words nearby rainforest

rain dance, rain date, raindrop, Rainey, rainfall, rainforest, rain frog, rain gauge, Rainier, Rainier III, raining cats and dogs

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use rainforest in a sentence

Leroi believes it should continue to expand its influence “until it becomes an integral part of explaining diversity wherever we see it in the world, be it in the supermarket or a tropical rainforest.”
How Neutral Theory Altered Ideas About Biodiversity|Christie Wilcox|December 8, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Young trees have adaptations that could save the AmazonThe famously humid Amazon is likely to face increasing droughts as the planet warms, but the teenagers of the rainforest may be coming to its rescue.
2020 isn’t all bad. Here are 13 science stories to be thankful for.|Rachel Feltman, Sara Chodosh|November 26, 2020|Popular-Science
As a chocolate maker, I knew Georgetown to be just west of cacao-rich rainforest.
Meet Four Craft Chocolate Makers Decolonizing the Industry|Jinji Fraser|October 22, 2020|Eater
Swim or paddle in the Big Island’s Hilo Bay, hike rainforest trails along the northeastern Hamakua Coast, or surf at Honolii Beach Park.
Our Favorite Hipcamp in Every State|Alison Van Houten|October 1, 2020|Outside Online

Reducing its footprint is the best thing we can do to help the rainforest.
The Environmental Headache in Your Shampoo - Issue 90: Something Green|Anastasia Bendebury & Michael Shilo DeLay|September 16, 2020|Nautilus
He could be remade into a defender of the environment, a preserver of habitats and champion of rainforest ecology.
Can Tarzan of the Apes Survive in a Post-Colonial World?|Ted Gioia|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One of their more memorable ones supported the Rainforest Action Network in 1988 at Madison Square Garden.
How the Grateful Dead Invented the Ice Bucket Challenge|Barry Barnes|August 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This little slice of anarchy is a 24-hour bus ride from Panama City, with plenty of rainforest-y scenery along the way.
A Man, a Plan, a Canal: Panama Turns 100|Bill Schulz|August 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To make room for these plantations, vast areas of rainforest are felled, which leads to primary and secondary loss of species.
Our Taste for Cheap Palm Oil Is Killing Chimpanzees|Carrie Arnold|July 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss saw the Amazon rainforest, as he saw most things, as a complex structure.
Exploring the Amazon, While We Still Can|Darrell Hartman|May 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the dry season the river was clear; it is surrounded by rainforest.
Amphibians and Reptiles of the Rainforests of Southern El Peten, Guatemala|William E. Duellman
Specimens were obtained in rainforest in the immediate vicinity of the settlement.
Amphibians and Reptiles of the Rainforests of Southern El Peten, Guatemala|William E. Duellman
Specimens were obtained in the rainforest and in cleared areas in the immediate vicinity of the town.
Amphibians and Reptiles of the Rainforests of Southern El Peten, Guatemala|William E. Duellman
Obviously, the diversity of ecological niches in the rainforest is sufficient to support a variety of related species.
Amphibians and Reptiles of the Rainforests of Southern El Peten, Guatemala|William E. Duellman
From the examples discussed above, the importance of the three dimensional aspect of the rainforest is apparent.
Amphibians and Reptiles of the Rainforests of Southern El Peten, Guatemala|William E. Duellman

British Dictionary definitions for rainforest

rainforest

/ (ˈreɪnˌfɒrɪst) /

noun

dense forest found in tropical areas of heavy rainfall. The trees are broad-leaved and evergreen, and the vegetation tends to grow in three layers (undergrowth, intermediate trees and shrubs, and very tall trees, which form a canopy)Also called: selva

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for rainforest

rainforest

[ rān′fôr′ĭst ]

A dense evergreen forest with an annual rainfall of at least 406 cm (160 inches).

A Closer Look

Most of the world's rainforests lie near the equator and have tropical climates. However, cooler rainforests exist in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada. The world's largest rainforest is located in the Amazon River basin. The Amazon rainforest has been described as the lungs of our planet because it continuously recycles carbon dioxide into oxygen, with a significant percentage of the world's atmospheric oxygen being produced in this region. Besides helping to regulate the world's climate, rainforests host an extraordinary diversity of life. Scientists believe that as many as half of the Earth's different species of plants and animals are found only in the rainforests, which take up a mere 7 percent of the world's landmass. By some estimates, more than half of the Earth's original rainforests have already been burned or cut down for timber or grazing land, and more than 130 plant, animal, and insect species are thought to be going extinct daily as a result of the lost habitat. Currently 25 percent of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from tropical rainforest ingredients, and 70 percent of the plants with anticancer properties are found only in this shrinking biome.