raining cats and dogs
Absolutely pouring outside
Raining cats and dogs describes extremely heavy rainfall.
The phrase is old and its origin unknown, though folk etymologies abound.
It remains common despite sounding quaint: We got soaked—it was raining cats and dogs.
The image is vivid but not meant literally.
- downpourIntense precipitation event
- cloudburstSudden heavy localized rainfall
- torrential rainExtremely heavy precipitation
- heavy rainfallIntense sustained precipitation
- pouringFlowing in volume
deluge · squall · under the weather · fair-weather friend · idiomatic · expression · figure of speech · head in the clouds · precipitation · chasing rainbows · rain cats and dogs · driving rain · tempest · storm clouds · hurricane · monsoon · puddles · splashing
- Animal Idiomsblind as a bat, brave as a lion, busy bee, copycat, dark horse
- folk sayingsproverb, adage, maxim, folk saying, old saying
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- Old Idiomsbeyond the pale, hue and cry, scot-free, knight in shining armor, eat humble pie
- animal expressionslet sleeping dogs lie, curiosity killed cat, horse sense, wild goose chase, chickens come home
- dog quotesman's best friend, loyal companion, dog loyalty, unconditional love, canine companion
raining cats and dogsdrizzling
Light, gentle precipitation
sprinkling · misting · light rain · spitting · scattered showers
raining cats and dogsbone dry
Totally devoid of moisture
clear skies · sunny · dry as a bone · fair weather · cloudless
raining, rainstorm, rained, rainless, rainmaker, raincheck, rainproof, rainwear, cattiness