downpour
Americannoun
-
downpours
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of downpour
Explanation
A downpour is a rainstorm, especially a very heavy one. If you get caught unexpectedly in a downpour, you'll wish you brought an umbrella. A downpour is exactly what it sounds like: torrential, pouring rain. A downpour, even one that's brief, can cause flooding in streets and basements. In some parts of the world, there are whole seasons that regularly bring downpours, while other places experience droughts so severe that people wish for a downpour. The word has been in use since the mid-19th century.
Vocabulary lists containing downpour
Water Hazard: Words for Too Much Moisture
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Raining Cats and Dogs
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Because of Winn-Dixie
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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:
We’re living under a dark cloud, with a steady downpour of graft, thuggery and baloney.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
The downpour turned the path—uphill, then downhill, then uphill again—into a slick mess of red clay and rock; every step had my blisters screaming in a new language.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
What makes things even more difficult is that it’s impossible, as of now, to pinpoint the exact time and location of a downpour, even though it can be gauged with marvelous accuracy.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
The nine-day downpour, exacerbated by tropical storms, was equivalent to more than a month's worth of rain in some areas.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Emeline found that riding her bicycle was best in the days after a good downpour.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
However the most persistent downpours are expected to affect southern and eastern Scotland - where a Met Office yellow warning for rain has been issued.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
In today’s torrential downpours, you must have an automated sump pump for the basement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
With global warming, not only will precipitation increasingly fall as rain and not snow, but atmospheric rivers are also predicted to grow more potent, bringing more intense downpours.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026
Some of the downpours will be heavy and thundery although little - if any - rain will affect the south-east of England.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Between downpours, he did a little skeet shooting at the rifle range.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
