Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who pretends to be able to cause rain by some physical process. The ringing of bells, the explosion of gunpowder or dynamite (Dyrenforth's method), the mixing of chemicals producing various vapors (Melbourne's method), the burning of piles of brushwood (Espy's method), are among the methods that have been tried.
- noun Among superstitious races, as those of Africa, a sorcerer who pretends to have the power of producing a fall of rain by incantation or supernatural means. Also called
rain-doctor .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word rain-maker.
Examples
-
Yet by that time, I would prefer to think of this system as a rain-maker from the Caribbean, rather than attach any meaningful tropical aspects to it.
Tropical storm Nicole not so tropical Greg Postel 2010
-
He wrote, If the primitive witch-smeller is the spiritual progenitor of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the primitive rain-maker is equally the spiritual progenitor of the Cavendish Professor of Physics.
Rabbi Alan Lurie: In Defense Of Religious Moderates Rabbi Alan Lurie 2010
-
He wrote, If the primitive witch-smeller is the spiritual progenitor of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the primitive rain-maker is equally the spiritual progenitor of the Cavendish Professor of Physics.
Rabbi Alan Lurie: In Defense Of Religious Moderates Rabbi Alan Lurie 2010
-
And this system is eventually going to make its way to the mid Atlantic and northeast and be a major wind and rain-maker come Wednesday and into Thursday.
-
And speaking of being a rain-maker, take a look at this radar imagery that we have for you.
-
The storm expected then to move onshore, central Louisiana and then into northern Louisiana and extreme eastern Texas into Wednesday and Thursday, a huge rain-maker.
-
But a rain-maker and a potential flood-maker here for Puerto Rico as it runs on up toward the north.
-
At this point though, the story is going from being a big rain - maker and -- rather a big wave maker and a big wind maker to a big rain-maker.
-
Then, just as a depression moving across part of the I-10 corridor and could be a rain-maker as we get into Saturday and Sunday.
-
Note 53: A people known as the VaKwena are believed to have migrated from the area of present-day Botswana into the northern Transvaal between the mid-seventeenth and early eighteenth century, and to have become incorporated into the Lovedu, whose powerful queen Mujaji (c. 1850-94) was considered southern Africa's greatest rain-maker.
Where Women Make History: Gendered Tellings of Community and Change in Magude, Mozambique 2005
alexz commented on the word rain-maker
Also from the CBC, a rainmaker is a cloud that produces rain.
http://www.cbc.ca/vancouverweather/mt/2013/04/rain-round-1-over-round-2-starts-tonight-luckily-the-systems-are-mainly-night-crawlersapril-5th.html
from the examples listed, it's also a term used by CNN for a storm that drops rain.
April 6, 2013