gullywasher: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
LowInformal, Colloquial, Dialectal (primarily Southern and Midland US)
Quick answer
What does “gullywasher” mean?
An intense, heavy rainstorm that is typically brief but causes water to rush through gullies or ditches.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
An intense, heavy rainstorm that is typically brief but causes water to rush through gullies or ditches.
Informally used to describe any very heavy, torrential downpour, often with connotations of localized flooding or dramatic impact.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
This word is almost exclusively American. It is not standard in British English, where similar phenomena would be described with other terms.
Connotations
In American English, it has rustic, vivid, sometimes folksy or humorous connotations. It may evoke a sense of the dramatic power of nature on a local scale.
Frequency
Very rare in the UK; low frequency and regionally marked in the US.
Grammar
How to Use “gullywasher” in a Sentence
A [ADJ] gullywasher VERB (hit, came through, started).We got/caught in a gullywasher.It turned into a real gullywasher.Vocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “gullywasher” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- N/A
American English
- N/A (The word is not used as a verb.)
adverb
British English
- N/A
American English
- N/A
adjective
British English
- N/A
American English
- N/A (The word is not used as a standard adjective. 'Gullywashing rain' is a possible but highly colloquial formation.)
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Highly unlikely; would be informal and possibly unprofessional.
Academic
Extremely rare; a technical term like 'intense precipitation event' would be used.
Everyday
Used in informal conversation, especially in certain US regions, to describe dramatic weather.
Technical
Not used in meteorological reports; terms like 'microburst', 'convective storm', or 'high-intensity rainfall' are standard.
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “gullywasher”
- Misspelling as 'gully washer' (open compound).
- Using it in formal writing.
- Assuming it is a standard term understood by all English speakers.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, it is a real, though informal and regionally marked, English word found in many dictionaries, primarily describing a heavy rainstorm.
It is most commonly used in the Southern and Midland regions of the United States.
No, it is considered informal, colloquial, and dialectal. Use standard terms like 'torrential rain', 'downpour', or 'cloudburst' instead.
A gullywasher implies a particularly intense, often brief, rain that is heavy enough to cause rapid runoff and fill or scour out gullies or ditches, suggesting localized high-impact precipitation.
An intense, heavy rainstorm that is typically brief but causes water to rush through gullies or ditches.
Gullywasher: in British English it is pronounced /ˈɡʌliˌwɒʃə/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈɡʌliˌwɑːʃər/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “Coming down like a gullywasher.”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine a giant washing machine in the sky, scrubbing out the gullies on the land below with a powerful jet of water.
Conceptual Metaphor
RAIN IS A CLEANSING AGENT (a washer). INTENSE NATURAL PHENOMENA ARE AGGRESSIVE ACTORS (it *hit* us).
Practice
Quiz
In which context would the word 'gullywasher' be MOST appropriate?