rainbow
A multicoloured arch in the sky, produced by prismatic refraction of light within droplets of rain in the air.
Noun 4 meanings
A multicoloured arch in the sky, produced by prismatic refraction of light within droplets of rain in the air.
Any prismatic refraction of light showing a spectrum of colours.
A wide assortment; a varied multitude.
“a rainbow of possibilities”
An illusion; a mirage.
“Many electoral promises are rainbows, vanishing soon after poll day.”
Adjective 4 meanings
Multicolored, especially if in rainbow order.
Made up of several races or ethnicities, or (more broadly) of several cultural or ideological factions.
Composed entirely of different suits.
Of or pertaining to rainbow tables.
“rainbow attack”
Verb 3 meanings
To brighten with, or as with, a rainbow; to pattern with the colours of the rainbow.
To take the appearance of a rainbow.
In climbing gyms where the rocks to climb are colored to indicate suggested climbing routes, to climb rocks of different colors, thereby ignoring such routes.
Etymology
From Middle English reynbowe, raynbowe, from Old English reġnboga (“rainbow”), from Proto-West Germanic *regnabogō, from Proto-Germanic *regnabugô (“rainbow”), equivalent to rain + bow (“arch”).
Similar and opposite words
RAINBOW at a glance
RAINBOW has 7 letters and scores 12 points in Scrabble (R 1 + A 1 + I 1 + N 1 + B 3 + O 1 + W 4) and 14 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #6,302 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with rainbow
All rhymes- ELBOW10
- CROSSBOW15
- LONGBOW13
- OXBOW17
- MOONBOW14
- SADDLEBOW16
- SUNBOW11
- DOWNBOW16
- EMBOW12
- FOGBOW15
- MISTBOW14
- STEELBOW13
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