# What does ‘raining cats and dogs’ mean?

To “raining cats and dogs” means to rain very heavily. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) notes several folk explanations for this saying — from Norse mythology (cats as symbols of storms, dogs of wind) to the debris that once washed off medieval roofs during downpours — but treats the true origin as uncertain.

## What it means

- Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) notes several folk explanations for this saying — from Norse mythology (cats as symbols of storms, dogs of wind) to the debris that once washed off medieval roofs during downpours — but treats the true origin as uncertain.

## Action steps

1. Everyday hyperbole for a downpour; almost always used casually and never in formal writing.
2. Example: Take an umbrella — it's raining cats and dogs out there.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

---
Canonical: https://bestidiomanswers.com/answers/raining-cats-and-dogs
Author: Best Idiom Answers — https://bestidiomanswers.com
Publisher: Best Idiom Answers
Published: 2026-07-18T04:16:34.052053+00:00
Modified: 2026-07-18T04:16:34.052053+00:00
Last verified: 2026-07-18
License: Citation License 1.0 — https://bestexpertanswers.com/license
© Adolicious LLC