rainbow — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A multicoloured arch in the sky, produced by prismatic refraction of light within droplets of rain in the air.

   Synonyms

   iris

   Examples

   Why are there so many songs about rainbows And what's on the other side? Rainbows are visions, but only illusions And rainbows have nothing to hide.

2. Any prismatic refraction of light showing a spectrum of colours.

3. A wide assortment; a varied multitude.

   Usage

   • often
   • used with “of”

   Examples

   a rainbow of possibilities

4. An illusion; a mirage.

   Usage

   • Figurative

   Examples

   Many electoral promises are rainbows, vanishing soon after poll day.

5. A curveball, particularly a slow one.

6. A trick in which the player makes the ball arc over the opponent's head using both feet; rainbow kick

7. In Texas hold 'em or Omaha hold 'em, a flop that contains three different suits.

   Usage

   • Slang

8. Rainbow trout.

   Examples

   Finally, by actual trial, I have found that I can catch more rainbow by using one fly than with a two or three-fly cast.

9. A person within the LGBT community.

   Usage

   • Derogatory
   • Figurative
   • sometimes

   Examples

   Oh look, the rainbow came back.

Adjective

1. Multicolored, especially if in rainbow order.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

2. Made up of several races or ethnicities, or (more broadly) of several cultural or ideological factions.

   Usage

   • US usage
   • attributive
   • not-comparable

   Examples

   That Asian-American actor Thomas Ikeda contributes a pleasingly frantic Panthino would not be considered rainbow enough.

   More examples (2)

   He went along with them because the Pack was a rainbow group — two Italian-Americans, a black man, a Jew (Bishop), and a sometime Englishman (Lawford) — and they were making a point.

   The 1999 June elections led to a surprise change in the governing coalition from the long-term ruling Christian Democrats to a rainbow group of Greens, Liberals, and Socialists.

   […] it seemed to me to be naive indeed for the Liberal Democrats to believe that they could simply enter into a rainbow alliance against the Labour Government.

   More examples (1)

   Mayawati has succeeded in building a social coalition that inverts the pyramid of caste/class hierarchy by building a rainbow alliance of social groups, now dominated by that greatest underclass of all, namely Dalits.

3. LGBT.

   Usage

   • attributive
   • Derogatory
   • not-comparable
   • sometimes

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Similarly, the question of who belongs in such a rainbow alliance isn't set. It can include gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals. It can include people who are 'questioning' which culture they belong to [...]

   Why do they have to add rainbow propaganda into everything?

4. Composed entirely of different suits.

   Usage

   • not-comparable
   • of a flop

5. Of or pertaining to rainbow tables.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   rainbow attack

Verb

1. To brighten with, or as with, a rainbow; to pattern with the colours of the rainbow.

   Usage

   • Transitive

2. To take the appearance of a rainbow.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   We saw birds and butterflies rainbowing in the sun; lazy lizards crawling in the heat; inguanas blinking on stone wall, with mouth wide open for flies; poisonous snakes, not only carved on walls, but gliding through the grass.

3. 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.

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   “She's going to learn to belay while I'm climbing? What if I fall?” “You're not going to fall while rainbowing a 5.8, and besides, she'll catch you.” “I could die.” “That would be tragic,” I said. Kaitlyn crossed her arms.

   called “rainbowing.” Different routes were color coordinated. ... Using hand-me-down equipment and learning as much as she could, Brittany began climbing outdoors. She found like-minded people and joined organizations such as Brown ...

Noun

1. an arc of colored light in the sky caused by refraction of the sun's rays by rain

   Broader terms

   bowarc

2. an illusory hope

   Broader terms

   promisehope

   Examples

   chasing rainbows