rainout
C1Informal, widely used in journalism, broadcasting, and sports contexts.
Definition
Meaning
An event (especially a sports game or outdoor performance) that is postponed or cancelled due to rain or adverse weather.
A situation where precipitation or resulting poor conditions cause an activity to be suspended, delayed, or called off. Informally, can refer to the cancellation of any planned outdoor event due to rain.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Primarily a countable noun (we had a rainout). The concept is "event cancellation caused by rain." It implies an official postponement/cancellation, not just a personal decision to stay in.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
The term is predominantly American. In British English, similar concepts are more often expressed with phrases like "rained off," "washed out," or "postponed due to rain."
Connotations
In American usage, it carries a neutral, factual connotation from sports/events reporting. In the UK, it may sound like an Americanism.
Frequency
Much more frequent in North American English (AmE). Relatively rare in UK media, where "rained off" is the standard collocation.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
The [EVENT] was a rainout.They had to declare a rainout.Rain caused a rainout of the [EVENT].Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “Make-up game/date (the rescheduled event after a rainout)”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Used in event management and ticketing: "The festival's financial loss was significant due to the rainout."
Academic
Rare; might appear in papers on meteorology's socio-economic impact.
Everyday
Common in conversation about plans: "Our picnic turned into a rainout."
Technical
Used in broadcasting and sports administration for official scheduling notes.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The cricket match was rained off.
American English
- The baseball game got rained out.
adverb
British English
- N/A.
American English
- N/A.
adjective
British English
- N/A (not standard).
American English
- N/A (not standard).
Examples
By CEFR Level
- The football game was a rainout.
- Due to the heavy storm, yesterday's concert was a rainout.
- Organisers feared a rainout would disrupt the tightly scheduled tournament.
- The meteorological team's accurate forecast helped the league avoid a costly rainout by rescheduling in advance.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: The rain put the event OUT. RAIN + OUT = event is out because of rain.
Conceptual Metaphor
RAIN IS AN AGENT OF INTERRUPTION (The rain acted to cancel the event).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid direct translation as 'ливень' (downpour) or 'дождь' (rain). The core is cancellation, not the rain itself. Use 'отмена из-за дождя' or 'перенос из-за погоды'.
Common Mistakes
- Using it as a verb ('The game rained out' is informal AmE; standard is 'was rained out'). Confusing it with 'rain delay,' which is a temporary pause.
Practice
Quiz
In which context is 'rainout' MOST appropriately used?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Informally in American English, 'to rain out' is used (The game was rained out). The noun form 'rainout' is more standard.
They are often synonymous in this context. 'Washout' can more literally imply flooding or washing away, while 'rainout' is strictly about cancellation due to rain.
Typically, no. It is specific to rain. For snow, terms like 'snowout' (informal) or 'postponement due to snow' are used.
Use it as a countable noun: 'The tournament suffered two rainouts in its first week.'