[rain] cats and dogs
1
to rain really hard
The origin of the idiom "rain cats and dogs" may have derived from the Old English word "catadupe," meaning a waterfall or cataract, which later evolved into "cat-and-dog" rain. This idiomatic expression is used to describe heavy or torrential rainfall. It implies that the rain is falling with great intensity, often accompanied by a loud or forceful sound.
- It's going to rain cats and dogs.
- We were planning a picnic, but it started raining cats and dogs, so we had to postpone it.
- It rained cats and dogs, and the streets were flooded.
- I got completely drenched when it started raining cats and dogs on my way home.
- The rain was coming down in buckets, like it was raining cats and dogs, during the outdoor concert.
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