rain off
B1 neutral separable transitive
In simple words
When rain makes an outdoor event stop or get cancelled.
Literal meaning: Rain causing something to be 'off' (cancelled).
Meanings
1 B1
idiomatic
neutral
(British English, usually passive) To cause an outdoor event to be cancelled or interrupted because of rain.
"The village fete was rained off for the third year in a row."
"England's final warm-up match was rained off without a ball being bowled."
— The Guardian, 2019
Grammar: separable
2 B1
idiomatic
neutral
To force players or participants off the field due to rain.
"The players were rained off after just twenty minutes of play."
Grammar: separable
Usage notes
Predominantly British English. Usually used in the passive: 'The match was rained off.' The active form ('the rain rained off the match') is rare; instead, speakers say 'the match was rained off.'
Commonly used with
match game cricket picnic event tournament
Forms
Base
rain off
I/you/we/they
3rd person
rains off
he/she/it
Past simple
rained off
yesterday
Past participle
rained off
have + pp
-ing form
raining off
continuous
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