It's Raining Cats and Dogs: Meaning & Usage

Meaning 1：very heavy rain (It's raining cats and dogs)

It's raining cats and dogs 🔊

/ɪts ˈreɪnɪŋ kæts ənd dɒɡz/

idiom

An idiom used to say it is raining very heavily.

very heavy rain 🔊

➕

/ˈver.i ˈhev.i reɪn/

idiom

Used to describe extremely heavy rainfall, often with strong winds.

📁 Category：Natural Geography 🔖 Level：beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

Idiom with no root words; its origin is from folklore.

💡 Mnemonic

Imagine cats and dogs dropping from thunderclouds as rain.

📖 Example

We had to cancel our picnic because it's raining cats and dogs outside. 🔊 We had to cancel our picnic because it's raining cats and dogs outside.

🔗 Collocations

It's raining cats and dogs – It is raining very heavily.

a cats-and-dogs storm – a storm with extremely heavy rain.

like cats and dogs – used to describe very heavy rain.

🔄 Synonyms

it's raining buckets (idiom) – An idiom meaning it is raining very heavily.

downpour (noun) – A heavy fall of rain.

torrential rain (noun phrase) – Rain that is falling very heavily and in large amounts.

🚫 Antonyms

drizzle (verb) – To rain in very small, light drops.

clear sky (noun phrase) – Weather with no clouds or rain.

dry spell (noun phrase) – A period of time with no rain.

📖 Cultural Story

One theory traces to Norse myth where cats represent rain and dogs represent wind. Another is 17th-century London: heavy rain caused stray animals to drown in streets.