rain cats and dogs
To rain very heavily.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Take an umbrella — it's raining cats and dogs.”
“We wanted to walk to the park, but it was raining cats and dogs all afternoon.”
“The match was abandoned at half-time because it began to rain cats and dogs, leaving the pitch completely waterlogged.”
first recorded 17th c.
Attested from the 17th century (Richard Brome, 1651, has 'rain dogs and polecats'; Jonathan Swift used the modern form in 1738); despite many theories, the true origin is unknown.
- 01
bell the cat
To undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group.
- 02
buy a dog and bark oneself
To do something that one has hired someone else to do.
- 03
call off the dogs
To ease up on after inflicting great punishment.
- 04
cat and dog life
An unhappy married life marked by arguments and disagreements.
- 05
cat got someone's tongue
Why is someone not saying anything?
- 06
cat in the meal-tub
Something concealed; a hidden danger.
- 07
cat piss
Any beverage of low quality.
- 08
cat that ate the canary
A person who appears self-satisfied or smug, especially while concealing something mischievous, prohibited, or private.
Last updated August 10, 2026