Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Informal One who is known for achieving excellent results in a profession or field, such as business or politics.
- noun One who is believed to be capable of producing rain, as through magical or ritual actions.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A native american medicine man who induces rain by rituals.
- noun A person who induces rainfall through scientific methods (i.e. silver iodide cloud seeding).
- noun figurative An
employee of acompany who creates a large amount of unexpectedbusiness , consistently brings inmoney at critical times, or brings in markedlymore money than his or her co-workers, thereby "floating their salaries". - noun figurative An investor in sick or start-up business ventures.
- noun slang (figurative) An
executive orlawyer with exceptional ability to attract clients, use political connections, or increase profits, etc. - noun baseball, informal A batted ball that is hit very high into the air.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun American Indian medicine man who attempt to make it rain
- noun executive who is very successful in bringing in business to his company or firm
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nancy Pelosi is what you call a rainmaker, and in this election, she made is pour.
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And the third, who was called the rainmaker, used a bunch of twigs to sprinkle water from a jug down to the ground.
Donna Henes: April Showers: How To Make Rain Donna Henes 2011
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And the third, who was called the rainmaker, used a bunch of twigs to sprinkle water from a jug down to the ground.
Donna Henes: April Showers: How To Make Rain Donna Henes 2011
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To some extent you're probably right that becoming a rainmaker is the result of a combination of personal and professional traits, hard to find in any group, and particularly unlikely to be found among female partners who are few and far between.
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No. 29 'rainmaker' was taken by Nappodol Paothong, who takes about all the pics for Missouri Conservation mag, glad to see his work here too.
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No. 29 'rainmaker' was taken by Nappodol Paothong, who takes about all the pics for Missouri Conservation mag, glad to see his work here too.
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As a self-described "rainmaker," Ehrlich's job was to bring in new business, and clients interviewed said they valued his advice.
O'Malley stretches truth on Ehrlich lobbyist label, but criticism sticks Ann E. Marimow 2010
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Somehow all of a open courtesy he perceived in a quarrel remade Furness from a younger hermit who was good during sketch in to a dynamo of energy, many in a indication of what law firms call a "rainmaker".
Philadelphia Reflections: Shakspere Society of Philadelphia admin 2009
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As a self-described "rainmaker," Ehrlich's job was to bring in new business, and clients interviewed said they valued his advice.
O'Malley stretches truth on Ehrlich lobbyist label, but criticism sticks Ann E. Marimow 2010
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As a self-described "rainmaker," Ehrlich's job was to bring in new business, and clients interviewed said they valued his advice.
O'Malley stretches truth on Ehrlich lobbyist label, but criticism sticks Ann E. Marimow 2010
john commented on the word rainmaker
In baseball, a high pop-fly. Apparently.
July 11, 2008
bilby commented on the word rainmaker
I wasn't aware of the meaning WeirdNet refers to.
August 16, 2009
yarb commented on the word rainmaker
That was the only meaning I was familiar with. It's used in corporate finance to describe the big swinging dicks.
August 17, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word rainmaker
Yeah. Wasn't there a movie called "The Rainmaker"? John Grisham novel, something like that? I just remember Al Pacino standing behind some young buck on the poster, looking like the devil himself.
Which I think was the point.
August 17, 2009
reesetee commented on the word rainmaker
Yep, originally a John Grisham novel, subsequently a movie.
August 17, 2009