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definitions

rainmaker

[reyn-mey-ker]
noun
  1. (among American Indians) a medicine man who by various rituals and incantations seeks to cause rain.
  2. a person who induces rainfall by using various scientific techniques, as the seeding of clouds with silver iodide crystals from an airplane.
  3. Slang. an executive or lawyer with exceptional ability to attract clients, use political connections, increase profits, etc.: The president has several rainmakers among his advisers.

Origin of rainmaker

An Americanism dating back to 1765–75; rain + maker
Related formsrain·mak·ing, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for rainmaker

ordnance, cannon, battery, force, arms, munitions, gunnery, stovepipe, bazooka, cannonry

Examples from the Web for rainmaker

Contemporary Examples of rainmaker

  • The Rainmaker, John Grisham April 1, 1995  The Rainmaker, John Grisham's sixth novel, took the summer of 1995 by storm.

    The Daily Beast logo
    Back to the '90s

    Isabel Wilkinson

    August 15, 2009

Historical Examples of rainmaker

  • For all this, interest in the rainmaker's efforts did not lax.

    Trail's End

    George W. Ogden

  • The last of the correspondents left on the evening of the day that Judge Thayer set the rainmaker to work.

    Trail's End

    George W. Ogden

  • But the wind was against the rainmaker; nature conspired to mock him before men as the quack that he was.

    Trail's End

    George W. Ogden

  • The town knew all about the rainmaker at work behind the shielding rows of tall corn in Judge Thayer's garden.

    Trail's End

    George W. Ogden

  • The rainmaker sent up his vain, his fatuous, foolish, infinitesimal breath of smoke.

    Trail's End

    George W. Ogden

British Dictionary definitions for rainmaker

rainmaker

noun
  1. (among Native Americans) a professional practitioner of ritual incantations or other actions intended to cause rain to fall
  2. informal, mainly US an influential employee who creates a great deal of business or revenue for his or her firm
Derived Formsrainmaking, noun
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
Word Origin and History for rainmaker
n.

also rain-maker, 1775, in reference to American Indian tribal magicians, from rain (n.) + agent noun of make (v.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper