tip it down
B2 informal inseparable intransitive
In simple words
To rain so hard it looks like someone is pouring water from a huge bucket.
Literal meaning: As if the sky is tipping a container of water downward.
Meanings
1 B2
idiomatic
informal
(British English, informal) To rain extremely heavily.
"Don't go out without a coat — it's absolutely tipping it down out there."
Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes
Almost exclusively British English. The pronoun 'it' is a dummy subject referring to the weather, as in 'it is raining'. Not used in American English. The expression always uses 'it' and is always in the progressive or simple present/past: 'it's tipping it down', 'it tipped it down all day'.
Commonly used with
rain weather outside umbrella forecast suddenly
Forms
Base
tip it down
I/you/we/they
3rd person
tips it down
he/she/it
Past simple
tiped it down
yesterday
Past participle
tiped it down
have + pp
-ing form
tiping it down
continuous
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