English Reference
Idiom idiom

make it rain


To bring prosperity or work to an enterprise by selling, inventing or other productive or successful activity.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

Our new product is a success and really makes it rain.

You make it rain for the store when you bring in new customers.

CONTEXTUAL

The sales team closed three major deals this week, which will definitely make it rain for the company.

After the lead developer invented that new software feature, she started to make it rain for the firm by attracting thousands of paying subscribers.

COMPLEX

By securing the exclusive international distribution contract, the startup finally made it rain, ensuring long-term financial stability for all its employees.


The term originates as a slang expression for the act of throwing large quantities of cash over dancers in a club, an action intended to simulate a heavy downpour of currency.

It draws from the earlier noun rainmaker, used in the literal sense for a medicine man who seeks to induce precipitation, and in the figurative sense for an individual possessing the ability to generate significant business.


Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    absence makes the heart grow fonder

    One feels more love or affection for those one loves when parted from them.

  2. 02

    cannot make it

    Cannot reach satisfactory or expected standards or do something competently; describes someone in a hopeless situation.

  3. 03

    doctors make the worst patients

    It is difficult to advise people on subjects that they are experts on.

  4. 04

    enough to make a cat laugh

    Very outlandish or outrageous.

  5. 05

    enough to make the angels weep

    Something so distressing that it causes one to lose hope and faith.

  6. 06

    fine feathers make fine birds

    Something that appears beautiful or good is by definition beautiful or good.

  7. 07

    have it made

    To have accomplished all there is to do; to have no further work or difficulty.

  8. 08

    it takes all kinds to make a world

    Diversity is essential: the world would be incomplete if everyone were alike; an expression of surprise at a person or people's eccentricity.

Last updated August 10, 2026