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What's the meaning of the phrase 'Raining cats and dogs'? Raining very heavily. Origin – the short version. No one knows the precise source of the 17th century expression ‘raining cats and dogs’, but we can be sure that it didn’t originate because animals fell from the sky. Origin – the full story.
The term raining cats and dogs derives from Victorian times when household pets, like cats and dogs, slept during the night on the eaves of houses. When it rained heavily, the water from the roof washed them off the eaves, and they came down with the torrent of water from the roofs of houses.
The English-language idiom "raining cats and dogs" or "raining dogs and cats" is used to describe particularly heavy rain. It is of unknown etymology and is not necessarily related to the raining animals phenomenon. [1] The phrase (with "polecats" instead of "cats") has been used at least since the 17th century. [2] [3]
The meaning of CATS AND DOGS is in great quantities : very hard. How to use cats and dogs in a sentence.
The phrase raining cats and dogs means that it is raining very hard. It is an idiom used to indicate that there is a torrential rainstorm going on. One would use this expression when it is raining very hard and heavily over an extended period of time.
“Cats and dogs” may come from the Greek expression cata doxa, which means “contrary to experience or belief.” If it is raining cats and dogs, it is raining unusually or unbelievably hard. “Cats and dogs” may be a perversion of the now obsolete word catadupe. In old English, catadupe meant a cataract or waterfall.
to rain very heavily: Don't forget to take your umbrella - it's raining cats and dogs out there. (Definition of rain cats and dogs from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
It’s raining cats and dogs is an idiom that means it’s raining extremely heavily. This expression uses a metaphor to describe a downpour of rain that is intense and forceful, as if cats and dogs were falling from the sky.
When we say it rains heavily or rains cats and dogs we mean it rains a lot at a particular moment in time. The opposite is a small amount of rain: light rain or rains lightly or drizzles. You can use this idiom in any verb tense form: rained cats and dogs, rains cats and dogs, is raining cats and dogs, etc.
Raining Cats and Dogs Meaning. Definition: Raining a lot; heavy precipitation. Origin of Raining Cats and Dogs. This expression became popular in the 1800s. However, this idiom has variations that occurred even earlier. There is a lot of speculation about the origin of this idiom. One morbid theory has more evidence than the others.