rainwater
noun
water fallen as rain.
rainwater
1 American
[reyn-waw-ter, -wot-er]
/ ˈreɪnˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /
noun
Rainwater
2
American
[reyn-waw-ter, -wot-er]
/ ˈreɪnˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /
noun
rainwater
British
/ ˈreɪnˌwɔːtə /
noun
Etymology
Origin of rainwater
before 1000; Middle English rein water, Old English regn-wæter; see 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.
See Examples For:
At the same time, groundwater and rainwater that seep underground must be collected and pumped back to the surface.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026
Among those technologies is direct air capture—in which carbon is absorbed from the atmosphere, enhanced rock weathering where rocks like basalt are spread over farm fields to capture dissolved carbon in rainwater.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
He avoids bottled water due to microplastics and has set up an elaborate system to catch rainwater from the house roof.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026
Stroud Brewery is organic, so it does not use pesticides or herbicides, and uses harvested rainwater to flush its toilets.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
The Wood smelled of damp things: rainwater soaking into fallen logs, softening the bark until it crumbled back into the ground.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
“Clearly, the market has liked the fact that risk appears to have declined because of the agreement” with Iran, Joseph Shaposhnik, founder and portfolio manager of the Rainwater Equity ETF, told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026
Rainwater is harvested from the greenhouse roofs and in response to changing weather patterns, the company are now beginning to recycle that water, and the nutrients it contains, for secondary use.
From BBC ● May 14, 2026
The study was funded by the Rainwater Charitable Foundation/Tau Consortium, the National Institutes of Health and other sources.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 3, 2026
Alumni from “Yellowstone” returning in “Marshals” include Gil Birmingham as tribal Chairman Thomas Rainwater and Mo Brings Plenty as his confidante Mo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2026
“Hey, Will, where y’all goin’?” Mr. Tom Rainwater asked me.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
