Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Any cloud from which rain falls: in meteorology called nimbus.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word rain-cloud.

Examples

  • It's an early summer day in Seattle, broad white of overcast but not rain-cloud, and one can see the ocean from the gallery building in which we stand observing Vrimjoet's gruesome handiwork in the trendy and cobblestoned part of downtown.

    Ming Holden: What Does Ecuador Have to Do With Seattle? 2010

  • This leads to the cenote, or well, into which human sacrifices and jade and gold ornaments were thrown to appease the rain-cloud god, Chac.

    Chichen Itza, the Colosseum, and Statue of Christ the Redeemer: Three of the 7 'New' Wonders of the 2008

  • Why drag a somber rain-cloud across a bright blue sky?

    HBCUs Marian 2008

  • This leads to the cenote, or well, into which human sacrifices and jade and gold ornaments were thrown to appease the rain-cloud god, Chac.

    Travel Guide: the Seven Historical and Cultural Sites in Mexico 2007

  • But when Bert went down to the gallery the world was empty and still, a clear inky-blue sky above and a rippled veil of still, thin sunlit cirrus below, through which one saw a racing drift of rain-cloud, and never a glimpse of sea.

    The War in the Air Herbert George 2006

  • For a moment her gaze intersected mine, like those travelling skies on stormy days which hurry after a rain-cloud that moves less rapidly than they, overtake, touch, cover, pass it and are gone; but they do not know one another, and are soon driven far apart.

    Within a Budding Grove 2003

  • The enchanted ceiling above them echoed Harry's mood; it was a miserable rain-cloud grey.

    Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Rowling, J. K. 2003

  • The wind, rushing ahead of the rain-cloud, caught up the dust in the streets and advanced across the town.

    How Janice Day Won Helen Beecher Long

  • A rain-cloud comes down mingled with hail; the Tyrian train and the men of

    The Aeneid of Virgil 70 BC-19 BC Virgil

  • On them, while the beaters run up and down, and the lawns are girt with toils, will I pour down a blackening rain-cloud mingled with hail, and startle all the sky in thunder.

    The Aeneid of Virgil 70 BC-19 BC Virgil

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.