rain cats and dogs

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The phrase "rain cats and dogs" is an idiom in English that means it is raining very heavily. When someone uses this expression, they want to emphasize that it is raining a lot, almost as if animals are falling from the sky!

Explanation:

• Literal Meaning: The phrase does not mean that real cats and dogs are falling from the sky. Instead, it is a colorful way to describe heavy rain.
• Usage: You can use this phrase when you want to talk about a strong rainstorm. It’s informal and often used in conversation.

Example:

• "I wanted to go for a walk, but it started to rain cats and dogs, so I stayed inside."

Advanced Usage:

In more advanced conversations, you might hear this idiom used in various tenses: - "It rained cats and dogs yesterday." - "It’s going to rain cats and dogs later today."

Word Variants:

There aren't direct variants of this idiom, but you can describe heavy rain using other phrases: - "Pouring rain": This means it’s raining heavily, similar to "rain cats and dogs." - "Torrential rain": This is a more formal way to describe very heavy rain.

Different Meanings:

The idiom "rain cats and dogs" does not have different meanings; it specifically refers to heavy rain.

Synonyms:

Here are some synonyms and phrases that mean the same thing: - "Pouring" - "Bucketing down" - "Coming down in sheets"

Related Idioms:

• "Under the weather": This means feeling ill, but it has nothing to do with rain.
• "Weather the storm": This means to deal with a difficult situation, not just about rain.

Phrasal Verb:

A common phrasal verb related to rain is "come down": - "It’s coming down hard outside."

Summary:

So when you hear someone say, "It's raining cats and dogs," remember they are simply saying it is raining very heavily.

Academic

Verb

1. rain heavily
   • Put on your rain coat-- it's pouring outside!

Synonyms

• pour
• pelt
• stream
• rain buckets