Meaning & use
pour down
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Meanings
verbphrasal verb
To rain very heavily.
Grammar: No object; it is the subject: it poured down.
Patterns
- it pours down
- rain pours down
It poured down all afternoon, so we stayed inside.
The rain was pouring down as we left the stadium.
It is going to pour down tonight.
verbphrasal verb
To flow or fall in a heavy stream from a higher place.
Grammar: No object; the subject is the thing flowing.
Patterns
- something pours down something
Water poured down the hillside after the storm.
Sweat poured down his face as he finished the race.
Light poured down through the skylight.
verbphrasal verb
To tip a liquid downward so that it flows into or through something.
Grammar: Takes an object: pour the water down the drain.
Patterns
- pour something down something
Don't pour grease down the drain.
She poured the cold tea down the sink.
He poured water down the neck of the funnel.
Word forms
| third person singular | pours down |
|---|---|
| past tense | poured down |
| past participle | poured down |
| -ing form | pouring down |
Common combinations
- rain pours down
- The rain poured down on the tents.
- pour down the drain
- Never pour oil down the drain.
- pour down all day
- It poured down all day, ruining the picnic.
- pouring down with rain
- It's pouring down with rain outside.
- tears poured down
- Tears poured down her cheeks.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bucket down
- Bucket down is an informal British phrase for very heavy rain, and is more vivid than pour down.
- pelt down
- Pelt down stresses rain hitting hard and fast, while pour down stresses the volume.
- teem
- Teem is formal or literary, and is used of rain falling heavily.
- rain heavily
- Rain heavily is plain and neutral and lacks the imagery of pour down.
Opposites
Word family
- pour verb
- to flow or make flow in a stream
- downpour noun
- a sudden heavy fall of rain
- pouring adjective
- raining heavily
- outpouring noun
- a rush of emotion or words
Commonly confused: pour down or pour rain?
pour down vs pour rain
Learners sometimes say pour rain, but English uses it is pouring or the rain pours down.
Practice
We ran inside because it started to ___ outside.
Choose one answer.
Pour down describes heavy rain. Pour out refers to emptying something, and the other options are unrelated.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pour down”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.