downpour

downpour

English

Etymology

From down- +‎ pour.

Compare typologically Czech liják, Polish ulewa, Slovene naliv, Russian ли́вень (lívenʹ) (akin to лить (litʹ)).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈdaʊn.pɔː(ɹ)/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Noun

downpour (plural downpours)

  1. A heavy fall of rain.
    Synonyms: cloudburst, (UK, dialectal) plash, (rare) pourdown, rainstorm
    They got caught in a downpour without an umbrella and came back soaked.
    • 1951 January, H. A. Vallance, “Kyle of Lochalsh Revisited”, in Railway Magazine, page 14:
      I left Inverness on a Saturday afternoon in July in a steady downpour of rain.

Translations

Verb

downpour (third-person singular simple present downpours, present participle downpouring, simple past and past participle downpoured)

  1. (intransitive) To pour down; rain heavily.
    • 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:
      Bank-notes fluttered down and lay about in all directions, relays of sovereigns rolled away like so much dross, bonds and scrip for thousands and tens of thousands clogged the downpouring stream of jewellery and unset gems.
    • 2002, Patricia Koretchuk, Chasing the comet: a Scottish-Canadian life - Page 211:
      It started to downpour, so Billy and I made our way back to our house, with Scotty following—or so I thought.

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