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rainwater

1 American  
[reyn-waw-ter, -wot-er] / ˈreɪnˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /

noun

  1. water fallen as rain.

Rainwater 2 American  
[reyn-waw-ter, -wot-er] / ˈreɪnˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /

noun

  1. (Leo) James, 1917–86, U.S. physicist: Nobel Prize 1975.

rainwater British  
/ ˈreɪnˌwɔːtə /

noun

  1. water from rain (as distinguished from spring water, tap water, etc)

"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

Etymology

Origin of rainwater

before 1000; Middle English rein water, Old English regn-wæter; rain, water

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.

Sam looked down at the drain that caught the rainwater.

From Literature

These included data from Arctic ice-cores and rainwater samples collected around the world.

From Science Daily

She produced a bowl of rainwater and a soft cloth, made from shredded and woven oak leaves.

From Literature

Another 30 percent were able to drink from a tap in their yards, while others depended on communal taps and rainwater tanks.

From Barron's

Fifteen feet deep and miles and miles long, Miami’s canals funneled freshwater from the Everglades and rainwater from regular storms through the city and out to the sea.

From Literature

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.