rainbown.

Brit.

/ˈreɪnbəʊ/, U.S.

/ˈreɪnˌboʊ/

Forms: see rain n.¹ and bow n.¹; also late Middle English raybowe.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Cognate with or formed similarly to Old Frisian reinboga (West Frisian reinbôge ), Middle Dutch rēgenbōge , rēghenbōghe (Dutch regenboog ), Middle Low German rēgenbōge , rēgenbāge , Old High German reganbogo (Middle High German regenboge , German Regenbogen , †Regenboge ), Old Icelandic regnbogi , Old Swedish räghnbughi (Swedish regnbåge ), Old Danish ræghænbvghæ (Danish regnbue ) < the Germanic base of rain n.¹ + the Germanic base of bow n.¹In sense 2a ultimately after Hellenistic Greek ἷρις iris n.; compare iris n. 2, 4a.

a. An arch of concentric coloured bands (conventionally described as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) visible in the sky in a direction opposite to the sun when sunlight shines through rain or other water droplets in the atmosphere. Cf. bow n.¹ 2, iris n. 2a.The dispersion (dispersion n. 4) of sunlight refracted by raindrops in the air produces an arc composed of a series of colours spanning the visible spectrum from red on the outside to violet on the inside (a primary rainbow; a secondary rainbow has the order of colours reversed).In many cultures the rainbow has mythical or legendary significance. In Genesis 9:13–16 it is a sign of the covenant made by God with Noah whereby he undertook never to destroy the earth with a flood (cf. quot. OE²).Cf. primary rainbow n. at primary adj. and n. Compounds, secondary bow or rainbow at secondary adj. 3g.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > rainbow > [noun]

bowa1000

rainbowOE

heaven-bowc1390

iris1490

rainy bow1597

archa1616

bow of promise1820

the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > sunlight or sunshine > ray of > produced by sunlight shining on mist or rain

rainbowOE

limb1801

beam1843

OE Antwerp Gloss. (1955) 216 Yris, renboga.

OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) ix. 13 Ic sette minne renbogan [L. arcum meum] on wolcnum.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 637 A token of luuen Taunede him in ðe wakene a-buuen, Rein-bowe, men cleped, reed and blo.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 1185 Whan hir list the Sky tempeste,The reinbowe is hir [sc. Juno's] Messager.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 1976 (MED) A couenand neu ic hight to þe, þou sal fra now mi rainbow [a1400 Fairf. rayn-boghe; a1400 Gött. rainbou] see.

?a1450 tr. Macer Herbal (Stockh.) (1949) 100 (MED) Gladene in englissh is clepid iris in latin, for his floures hauyn colour like þe reinbowe.

c1475 (c1399) Mum & Sothsegger (Cambr. Ll.4.14) (1936) iii. 248 Iche rewme vndir roff of þe reyne-bowe.

1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 11 Iris..being..stricken of the Sunne his beames..doth represent and shewe both the figure and colours of the Rainebow vpon the wall next to it.

1614 G. Markham 2nd Bk. Eng. Husbandman i. i. 4 If you shall see one or more Weather-gals which are like Raine-bowes, onely they arise from the Horison but a small way vpward.

1698 tr. F. Froger Relation Voy. Coasts Afr. 169 This same night, we beheld a Rain-bow cross the heavens, which..had a very lively red colour.

1752 ‘H. Beaumont’ Crito 5 I should as soon think of dissecting a Rainbow..as of forming grave and punctual Notions of Beauty.

1788 T. Jefferson Let. 19 July in Papers (1956) XIII. 378 I have seen a leg of a rainbow plunge down on the river running through that valley.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. ii. 12 In front of us a magnificent rainbow, fixing one of its arms in the valley.

1910 H. de V. Stacpoole Blue Lagoon III. xvi. 122 Torrential showers followed by bursts of sunshine, rainbows, and rain-dogs in the sky.

1965 William & Mary Q. 22 678 The Caribbean—cloud masses on the mountains, rainbows bridging the valleys, peacock-like colors of the sea.

2007 Adventure Trav. Jan. 53/1 You're on the Inca Trail, with a rainbow carving through a charcoal sky.

b. A similar arc of coloured light formed in other ways, as in spray, through mist, or through a prism.horizontal rainbow: see the first element.

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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > rainbow

rainbowc1384

iris1490

water-bow1827

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) Apoc. iv. 3 The reynbowe was in the cumpas of the seete, lijk to the siȝt of smaragdyn.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 337 Ȝif þat stoon is i-holde aȝenst þe sonne, it schal schape a reynbowe [?a1475 anon. tr. reynbawe].

a1500 in A. Zettersten Middle Eng. Lapidary (1968) 32 (MED) Iris is a stone þat hathe many seedis..The Irys maketh þe raynbowe ayenste the sonne vpon the wall.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) Rev. iv. 3 There was a rayne boll aboute the seate.

a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 33/2 The Ocean in Mountains..over-tumbling, tumbling over Rocks, Casts various Rain-bows.

1708 tr. J. Ozanam Recreations Math. & Physical 398 Oftentimes we see Rainbows in Water-works or Spouts, when we stand between the Sun and the Fountain.

1799 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 4 228 A vapour or spray of considerable density, resembling a cloud, continually ascends, in which a rainbow is always seen when the sun shines.

1802 S. T. Coleridge Hymn before Sunrise in Poems 379 Motionless torrents! silent cataracts!..Who bade the sun Clothe you with rainbows?

1846 C. Dickens Pictures from Italy 264 The..river dashes, headlong, from a rocky height, amidst shining spray and rainbows.

1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xiii. 130 The fairy glass is as lovely as a dream... It's all full of rainbows—just little young rainbows that haven't grown big yet.

1997 Boards Mar. 54/3 Timo's mast disappears from sight on the swell in front and then reappears amongst spray and rainbows in a flash.

c. Any of various other luminous atmospheric phenomena manifesting as arcs or rings but lacking (or appearing to lack) the full spectrum of colours. Cf. halo n. 1, corona n.¹ 1, fogbow n. at fog n.² Compounds 3.moon-rainbow: see the first element.

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the world > the universe > luminous appearance > [noun] > anthelion

rainbow1555

crown1563

corone1569

corona1658

anthelion1670

fogbow1820

glory1823

1555 R. Eden Of Pole Antartike in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 246 I sawe a whyte raynebowe abowt mydnyght.

1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1202 Rainbowes, haloes or garlands about the Sunne, Moone, etc.

1766 L. Carter Diary 23 July (1965) I. 319 The moon by rising pretty clear to the Eastward made about one third of a rainbow very visible in the night but without any colour.

1793 J. Adams Elem. Useful Knowl. cix. 262 Rainbows sometimes appear by night in the moonshine.

1870 Nature 8 Sept. 381/1 The image of the sun was orange; the two rainbows which surmounted it consisted of two colours only, red and orange mingled together, and placed symmetrically in each of the rainbows with respect to the separating gray band.

1946 G. Stimpson Thousand Things 406 Rainbows by moonlight, known as moonbows, are unusual but not rare phenomena.

1986 A. Wilkinson Blessing of Fleet in Riverkeeper (1991) 22 He is also forever looking for sun dogs—little rainbows way up in the sky in the early morning, streaks of two or three colors.

1995 Sky & Telescope May 102/2 (caption) Known as a ‘white rainbow’, the evanescent fogbow was photographed at sea.

d. A picture or representation of a rainbow, esp. in Heraldry.

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society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > representations of heavenly bodies or phenomena > [noun] > rainbow

rainbow1580

1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. in Euphues (new ed.) sig. ¶ Arachne hauing wouen in cloth of Arras, a Raine-bow of sundry stikes, it was obiected..that in hir worke there wanted some coulours, for that in a Raine-bow there should bee all.

1610 E. Bolton Elements of Armories vii. 45 Ingva was the hereditary name of the Perv Kings, and the gentilitial armes of the Inguas were a rain-bow with two snakes extended.

1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients i. v. 67 They doe marke the wide heaven beset with an endlesse number of bright and glorious starres; the watery clouds of severall colours, together with the miraculously painted raine-bow.

1780 J. Edmondson Compl. Body Heraldry II. (Gloss.) Rain-Bow, is represented in armory as a semi-circle, of various colours, arising from clouds.

1780 Encycl. Brit. V. 3599/2 ‘Argent, a Rainbow with a Cloud at each end’... This is part of the crest to the earl of Hopeton's coat-of-arms.

1847 H. Gough Gloss. Terms Brit. Heraldry 262 Rainbow, Argent, a rainbow, in fess throughout proper.

1882 J. E. Cussans Handbk. Heraldry vi. 103 The Signs of the Zodiac, Planets.., Rainbows, and Clouds, are sometimes, though very rarely, employed as Charges.

1969 J. Franklyn & J. Tanner Encycl. Dict. Heraldry 273/1 The simple blazon, ‘a rainbow’ has taken the place of all other and more ponderous devices.

1993 R. Shilts Conduct Unbecoming iv. xxxii. 311 Baker's design became part of the official logo of the parade, a rainbow surrounded the Greek symbol lambda, long identified with the gay movement.

e. figurative. A symbol of calm after a storm; (often with allusion to Genesis 9:13–16) a symbol of hope, a promise of peace, goodwill, etc.

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1658 J. Robinson Endoxa x. 52 The Rain bow hath a Telesmatical signification, for the preservation of the Universe from Inundation.

1673 J. Milton On Christ's Nativity: Hymn (rev. ed.) xv, in Poems (new ed.) 8 Yea, Truth and Justice then Will down return to men, Orb'd in a rainbow.]

1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Second 18 Has Death his Fopperies? then well may Life Put on her Plume, and in her Rainbow shine.

1813 Ld. Byron Bride Abydos ii. xx. 398 Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life!

1837 T. De Quincey Revolt of Tartars in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 101/1 The promised rest proved a mere phantom of the wilderness—a visionary rainbow, which fled before their hope-sick eyes.

1876 J. Saunders Lion in Path iii He has seen in the tears of the nation a new rainbow of hope.

1961 P. G. Wodehouse Ice in Bedroom i. 11 For the first time in years Frederick Fotheringay Widgeon is sitting on top of the world with a rainbow round his shoulder.

1973 Sunday Advocate News (Barbados) 16 Dec. 8/4 This offer is a rainbow after the flood speaking hope for the future and a covenant with its denizens.

2004 R. Samaddar Politics of Dialogue ii. 35 Themes of nonviolence, human nature, feminist education, pathological cure, and community restructuring, form the rainbow of peace.

†a. The iris of the eye; = iris n. 4a. Obsolete.

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the world > life > the body > sense organ > sight organ > parts of sight organ > [noun] > iris

iris1525

rainbow1525

bow1611

irid1822

1525 Anothomia in tr. H. von Brunschwig Noble Experyence Handy Warke Surg. iii. sig. Bi^v/2 There be iij. materyall circles y^t ronne about the iye, and because they be so different of colours they be callyd yride[s] or rain bowys.

1587 A. Hunton tr. J. Guillemeau Treat. Eyes i. iii. sig. A5^v The apple of the eie is..enuironned with Iris, or the Rainbowe.

1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. xiii. xiii. 477 [An ulcer] about the circle of the Iris or Rainebow.

1696 J. Edwards Demonstr. Existence God ii. ii. 32 This Black Circle which I am now speaking of, is environ'd with a Bright Iris or Rainbow, so call'd because 'tis of divers Colours.

1770 J. Keill Anat. Human Body Abridged (ed. 14) 11 The iris, or rainbow, in the middle of which is the pupilla, or sight.

b. A patch of bright colours on an object, resembling or reminiscent of a rainbow; (similarly) a group of objects of various colours, or a many-coloured object.

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1651 J. Ogilby Fables of Æsop Paraphras'd ii. 29 His flowing main, and bushie tail was ty'd With ribands, baffled Rain-bowes in their pride.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis ix, in tr. Virgil Wks. 464 On equal Wings she pois'd her Weight, And form'd a radiant Rainbow in her flight.

1715 tr. G. Panciroli Hist. Memorable Things Lost I. ii. xvii. 113 [A vessel made of Electrum] discovers Poison, by a Rain-bow in the Cup.

1788 W. Cowper On Mrs. Montague's Feather-hangings 4 The peacock sends his heavenly dyes, His rainbows and his starry eyes.

1820 J. Keats Ode on Melancholy in Lamia & Other Poems 141 Glut thy sorrow on a morning rose, Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave.

1869 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad xvi. 153 A noble palace,..a grand promenade before it,..all about it rainbows of flowers, and colossal statues.

1891 O. Wilde Picture of Dorian Gray xi. 202 He loved the red gold of the sunstone, and the moonstone's pearly whiteness, and the broken rainbow of the milky opal.

1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xxi. 241 They sat on the..stones..and made rainbows in the water with little twigs dipped in fir balsam... ‘Oh, look, Diana, what a lovely rainbow! Do you suppose the dryad will come out after we go away and take it for a scarf?’

1920 E. Wharton Age of Innocence xxi. 212 Brown heads and golden.., and pale muslins and flower-wreathed hats mingled in a tender rainbow.

1946 D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist (U.K. ed.) i. 19 In mid-April I had left the ranch, wanting not to see this rainbow fade.

1980 A. Tyler Morgan's Passing ii. vi. 52 Neon signs blurred into rainbows, and the taillights of cars, sliding off into the fog, seemed to contract and then vanish.

2004 R. A. L. Jones Soft Machines iv. 79 Rainbows of colour appear as streaks across the surface, seeming to move as we tilt the surface.

†c. Boxing slang. Obsolete. A bruise.

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the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > [noun] > bruise

brusurea1375

frousshure1477

bruise1533

wan1533

battering1558

squat1578

intuse1590

battery1594

crush1601

contusiona1616

sugillation1623

mishanter1754

stone bruise1805

rainbow1810

birze1818

pound1862

strawberry1921

1810 Sporting Mag. Dec. 100 A violent blow on the forehead, by which he picked up a handsome rainbow.

d. U.S. slang. A capsule containing the barbiturates quinalbarbitone and amylobarbitone (cf. Tuinal n.). Now rare. [So called from the red and blue stripes of the capsules.]

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the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > sedative drug or tablet

tranquillizer1800

goof ball1938

goof pill1948

pill1951

bomber1962

rainbow1963

downer1966

downie1966

down1967

disco biscuit1981

1963 M. Braly Shake him till he Rattles (1964) 21 Time to get rid of whatever they had—horse, pot, bennies,..dexies, or rainbows—any of the dozens of drugs on the growing palette of illegal stimulation.

1968 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) 3 ii. 39 Rainbows, a type of barbiturate in red and blue capsules. (Drug users' jargon.)

1972 J. Wambaugh Blue Knight (1973) xvi. 303 One lousy time I dropped a red devil and a rainbow with some guys at school, and that's all the dope I ever took.

1976 M. Millar Ask for me Tomorrow xiv. 115 Getting their kicks by mixing drinks and drugs, like..the high school kid carrying a flask of vodka to wash down the rainbows.

2002 J. A. Maville & C. G. Huerta Health Promotion in Nursing xvi. 324/2 Substances referred to by names such as ecstasy, yellow sunshine, cotton candy, and rainbow sound exciting, comforting, and inviting.

3. Something which consists of many elements; (also) a wide variety or range of related things.

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the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession > long or complete > and wide-ranging

range1564

rainbow1662

band1929

spectrum1936

1662 R. Baker Theatrum Redivivum 60 He hath another Argument, which we may call his Rain-bow, seeing there are as many Vices in it, as there are Colours in the Rain-bow.

1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 247 A rainbow of sweet sounds, Just spanning the soothed sense.

1869 A. Trollope Phineas Finn lxx Men of all shades of politics were there,..and a whole rainbow of foreign ministers with their stars.

1920 A. Repplier Points of Friction 15 They professed a languid amusement at the ‘rainbow of official documents’ which proved every nation in the right.

1961 in Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) A catchall large enough to hold a rainbow of opinions.

1977 New Yorker 20 June 93/1 The switching of instruments..results in a rainbow of timbres and tones.

2002 Esquire Apr. 40/2 Arabica beans, which grow on equatorial mountainsides and contain a majestic rainbow of flavors.

a. = rainbow trout n. at Compounds 3.

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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Salmonidae (salmon) > [noun] > genus Salmo > trout (unspecified and miscellaneous) > salmo irideus (rainbow trout)

rainbow1779

hardhead1792

mountain trout1805

brook trout1869

silver trout1873

rainbow trout1881

steel-head1882

1779 U.S. Mag. Feb. 85 The rainbow cuts the deep of varied green.

1897 Daily News 30 Aug. 2/4 The fish included a number of Rainbows, a species of trout not hitherto introduced to the river.

1909 Westm. Gaz. 13 Feb. 16/2 If there is a river in which rainbows should grow large and wax fat it is the Thames.

1940 R. Pertwee Master of None v. 27 I caught a sizeable rainbow with it [sc. a rod] last season.

1993 Outdoor Canada May 27/1 This wasn't exactly a normal weekend of rainbow fishing—we'd been tying into one monster trout after another.

b. Any of several South American hummingbirds of the genus Coeligena; spec. (more fully Andean rainbow) = rainbow starfrontlet n. at Compounds 3.

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the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Apodiformes > [noun] > family Trochilidae (humming-bird) > unspecified and miscellaneous types of

zumbador1758

sunbeam1769

black warrior1831

hermit-bird1837

Anna's hummingbird1839

jacobin1843

straight-tail1843

vervain hummingbird1847

wedge-bill1848

fiery topaz1854

sungem1856

wood-star1859

calliope1861

rainbow1861

sabre-wing1861

sawbill1861

swallowtail1861

sword-bill1861

thorn-bill1861

visor-bearer1861

warrior1861

wood-nymph1861

puffleg1869

calliope hummingbird1872

flame-bearer1882

shear-tail1885

plature1890

rainbow starfrontlet1966

1861 J. Gould Monogr. Trochilidæ IV. Pl. 247 Diphlogena iris..Rainbow.

1861 J. Gould Monogr. Trochilidæ IV. Pl. 248 Diphlogena aurora..Bolivian Rainbow.

1958 E. T. Gilliard Living Birds of World 223/1 The Andean rainbow (Coeligena iris) is nearly six inches long and has a generally greenish body.

1988 Amer. Hist. Rev. 93 1001 Like the pachacuti, Andean rainbows could carry a negative as well as a positive meaning.

5. North American Sport (originally Baseball). A throw, shot, etc., having a high arcing trajectory. Frequently attributive.

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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > motion of ball > types of ball by motion

grounder1849

daisy-cutter1889

rainbow1891

poached egg1893

screamer1896

scorcher1900

swerver1902

slam1931

thunderbolt1959

1891 Boston Daily Globe 25 May 2/6 Bennett is catching as well as ever, but his rainbow throwing to second is not heading off the men.

1927 M. Charnley Secrets of Baseball iv. 49 His throws were high ‘rainbows’ that seemed to take forever to get where they were going.

1974 Washington Post 12 May d1/3 His 15-foot rainbow jumper over Jabbar sifted through the net.

1995 Sport Oct. 20 Laces rolling over and over, the rainbow pass from Warren Moon is snared out of the sky.

2004 Barrie (Ont.) Examiner (Nexis) 10 Nov. b1 The Vikings slowly extended their lead,..with tough layups and rainbows from outside.

6. British. Usually with capital initial. Also in full Rainbow Guide. A member of the most junior division of the Guides Association (for girls from 5 to 7 years of age).

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1988 Guiding Mar. 13/1 The following interim guide-lines for Rainbow Guides have been approved by the Executive Committee.

1988 Guiding Sept. 21/4 Get the Rainbows to print designs on coloured paper.

1999 Scouting Mag. Nov. 24/2 It went very well with a positive response from the Guides, Brownies and Rainbows.

2005 Brownie Feb. 31/2 I was a Rainbow and a Brownie. I loved seeing all my friends at the meetings and playing all the outdoor games.

Phrases

P1. all the colours of the rainbow and variants.

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the world > matter > colour > variegation > [noun] > rainbow colours

all the colours of the rainbow1562

1562 G. Legh Accedens of Armory f. 171 A flower de luse Sable. Althoughe thys be of Coloure Sable, yet naturally it hath all ye colours of a Raine bowe.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 167 He changeth..like the Chamæleon, to al colours of the Rainebowe.

1602 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor iv. v. 108 I haue bene beaten all the colours in the Rainbow.

c1645 W. Atkins Relation of Journey (1994) 228 Our constant diet was bread... It had in it more coloures than the raynebow.

1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. xliv. 311 Mistinesses of all the colours in the rainbow twinkling upon my deluged eye.

1834 J. W. Croker Let. 10 June in Croker Papers (1884) II. 226 The women dressed in all the colours of the rainbow.

1933 E. A. Powell Slanting Lines of Steel xviii. 280 Those long, thin craft, streaked and striped and ringed and dappled with half the colors of the rainbow.

1991 P. O'Brian Nutmeg of Consol. (1993) ix. 259 They have seen all the colours of the rainbow, they do not have to top it the nob.

P2. With reference to the idea of trying to reach the rainbow.

a. As the type of a useless quest, esp. in to chase rainbows; cf. rainbow chase n. at Compounds 3.

ΚΠ

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 2466 (MED) Roomes noȝt at þe raybowe [a1500 Trin. Dub. rayne-bowe] þat reche ȝe ne may.

1796 Origin Duty & Right in Man, Considered 94 He who would be at the labour of searching for absolute perfection..would resemble the simple boy who chased the rainbow.

1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain ii. iii. 57 As wildered children leave their home, After the rainbow's arch to roam.

1895 E. C. Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable (rev. ed.) 1036/2 Rainbow chasers, problematical politicians and reformers, who chase rainbows, which cannot possibly be caught, to ‘find the pot of gold at the foot thereof’.

1936 A. Russell Gone Nomad i. 7 In chasing my rainbow I have..delved for gold; ‘gouged’ for opal; fossicked for diamonds.

1988 Soccer Special Aug. 20/5 So far the man who..went on to chase rainbows at Luton Town and Tottenham has satisfied the more immediate demands.

b. As a quest for the treasure supposed to lie where the rainbow appears to touch the ground, esp. in the end of the rainbow, the foot of the rainbow, the rainbow's end.

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the mind > will > motivation > attraction, allurement, or enticement > [noun] > one who or that which > that which

lurec1385

baitc1400

traina1425

allective1445

allurement1548

lodestone?1577

attractive1581

invites1615

magnetic1645

magnet1655

invitatory1666

track1672

glittering prize1713

catch1781

the rainbow's end1846

carrot1895

come-on1902

1803 Lit. Mag. & Amer. Reg. Dec. 237/2 An unlucky passion for celebrity, made him run continually in quest of it, as the peasant-boy runs to find the treasure at the end of the rainbow.

1836 W. D. Cooper Gloss. Provinc. Sussex 16 Go to the end of the rainbow, and you'll find a crock of money.

1846 G. W. Henry Incidents in Life of George W. Henry v. 67 Running after the riches of this world for the purpose of happiness, is like a child seeking for pretty things at the rainbow's end, which seems to be just in the adjoining field.

1882 Cent. Mag. Nov. 62/2 Lane and some of his men, like boys seeking the pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow, set out to immortalize and enrich themselves by ascending the Roanoke to find the Pacific Ocean.

1935 ‘J. Guthrie’ Little Country xxi. 312 You shouldered your swag and left to seek the foot of another rainbow.

1940 Railroad Mag. Apr. 47/1 Indian Valley road , an imaginary railroad ‘at the end of the rainbow,’ on which you could always find a good job and ideal working conditions.

1971 A. Diment Think Inc. ii. 21 Every wornout hack of an agent retires there... It's the end of the rainbow for every British spy.

2005 MX News 21 Mar. 17/1 The pot of gold at the end of the DVD rainbow.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.

a. In the sense ‘relating or belonging to a rainbow’, or ‘resembling a rainbow’ (i.e. in having the shape of an arch, or many or varying colours).

rainbow colour n.

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1637 T. Heywood Londini Speculum sig. B 4^v Dance in thy raine-bow colours..change Thy selfe to thousand figures.

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Iris A peculiar species of spring crystal, remarkable for its giving the rainbow colours in reflection.

1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus ii. ii. 35/1 Among the rainbow colours that glowed on my horizon, lay even in childhood a dark ring of Care.

1997 C. B. Divakaruni Mistress of Spices 48 They wear jangly bangles in rainbow colours and earrings that swing against the smooth sides of their necks.

rainbow crown n.

ΚΠ

1810 R. Southey Curse of Kehama xi. 117 A cataract..Hung with many a rainbow crown.

1881 T. C. Irwin Sonnets on Poetry & Probl. Life 11 April, with rainbow crown, blue-eyed and slight.

2004 Daily News (New York) (Nexis) 19 July (Business section) 46 Sarah Druck, a 27-year-old bride-to-be, shopped in a rainbow crown made from pipe cleaners.

rainbow curve n.

ΚΠ

1775 W. Cockin Art Written Lang. 114 In a horse..a fine rainbow curve of the neck is allowed to be as expressive of fire as it is necessary to beauty.

1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It lxxiv. 536 From these holes branched numberless bright torrents in many directions, like the spokes of a wheel, and kept a tolerably straight course for a while and then swept round in huge rainbow curves.

1985 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 25 Aug. x. 9/1 The road bends in a long rainbow curve around two of Frank Lloyd Wright's most remarkable buildings.

rainbow dye n.

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1726 J. Hervey Monimia to Philocles 7 So in a Prism to the cheated Eye, Each pictur'd triffle takes a Rainbow dye.

1860 C. Langster Hesperus 53 Queenly beauty diademed with rainbow dyes.

1984 Washington Post (Nexis) 26 Mar. (Metro section) b3 She and Nicole would wear their rainbow dyes to a party that night at the Crofton Country Club.

rainbow hue n.

ΚΠ

1587 M. Grove Most Famous Hist. Pelops & Hippodamia sig. B^v They mark the diuers colours that in waste doe flee therehence, The raynbow hue, to deeme thereby of Gods the high pretence.

a1779 T. Lyttelton Poems (1780) 19 At thy approach, each pearl of orient dew, Is purpled over with a rainbow hue.

1816 P. B. Shelley Alastor 23 The beams of sunset hung their rainbow hues [etc.].

1991 Gardener Jan. 22/2 Suttons supply F1 ‘Non-Stop Mixture’, tuberous-rooted with 2″ (5cm) double blues in rainbow hues, for bedding or windowsill display.

rainbow light n.

ΚΠ

1771 J. Trotter Faith Triumphant 7 I yet see a stream of that inexpressibly beautiful rainbow-light which attended another, who is disappeared.

1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 218 It was a lake of rainbow light, in which, for a short while, I lived like a dolphin.

1987 D. Ywahoo Voices of Ancestors vi. 212 Sense the seven stars above your head, their rainbow light cascading down around you.

rainbow path n.

ΚΠ

1738 S. Johnson Vision Heaven 54 The shining Walks, and Rainbow paths [of heaven].

1811 R. Heber tr. Pindar in Q. Rev. May 456 To walk the rainbow paths of heaven.

1994 Guardian 20 Oct. (OnLine section) 3/1 People are leaning towards a more self-empowering approach to the unknown, drawing on many sources and bringing them together to create their own trip, an approach which has come to be known as the ‘rainbow path’!

rainbow-pinion n. chiefly poetic (now rare)

ΚΠ

1820 Amer. Watchman (Wilmington, Delaware) 22 Mar. 2/4 Love's rainbow-pinion shone.

1845 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 2) 215 Rainbow-pinions coloured like yon cloud.

1915 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 28 Dec. 3/1 Joy on rainbow pinions wing to me.

1935 G. D. Gribble tr. I. Seidel Wish Child 249 It seemed as if it would suddenly rise rustling, unfold its rainbow pinions, and wing its way to heaven through the riven roof.

rainbow shower n.

ΚΠ

1760 J. Delap Elelgies 8 They..Sport in the gale, or sip the rainbow shower.

1895 L. A. Lefevre Lion's Gate 57 A rainbow shower of golden stars Breaks into glory there!

2006 London (Ont.) Free Press (Nexis) 14 Oct. a15 If Bob gets under too much pressure, he'll just explode in a rainbow shower of Danish blocks.

rainbow silk n.

ΚΠ

1787 H. S. Conway in Prol. & Epil. to Play of Way to keep Him 2 No Rainbow Silks then flaunted in the wind.

1852 Times 4 Mar. 5/2 The Queen wore a train of white watered rainbow silk.

2001 Independent (Nexis) 11 Oct. Narrow jackets with collars made out of twisted ropes of rainbow silk.

rainbow sister n.

ΚΠ

1818 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto IV lxi. 33 Where Sculpture with her rainbow sister vies.

1926 W. Thompson Rainbow Countries Central Amer. vi. 110 The azure of the spectrum of Central America comes, at last, in the riches and the beauty of the lovely eldest of the five rainbow sisters.

1998 H. Jaskoski Leslie Marmon Silko i. 27 The lyrics..echo the form of English translations of many Navajo sacred songs..in imagery of earth mother and sky father, rainbow sister and wind brother.

rainbow space n.

ΚΠ

1918 E. Sitwell Clowns' Houses 14 A glassy ball that clowns have hurled Through the rainbow-space of laughter.

1992 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 25 Jan. (Food section) d7 Each food group getting its own band of color, and taking up an equivalent amount of rainbow space to the proportion it should show up in our diets.

rainbow tint n.

ΚΠ

1777 E. Ryan Reliques of Genius 24 The gay delusion fades; its rainbow-tints In empty air evanish.

1882 Harper's Mag. Nov. 848/1 Here are rainbow tints of nacre borrowed from the mother of no earthly pearl.

2005 Boston Globe (Nexis) 21 Dec. (Food section) e1 Pastry brushes in rainbow tints will fill cooks' stockings everywhere.

rainbow vapour n.

ΚΠ

1840 R. Browning Sordello ii, in Wks. (1896) I. 128/2 Whose shape divine, Quivered i'the farthest rainbow-vapour.

1930 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 24 Nov. 17/1 The Superoptimists live in a land of steam heat, rainbow vapors, lingering perfumes, [etc.].

2003 Boston Herald (Nexis) 3 Oct. (The Edge section) e28 These rainbow vapors, however, represent ‘Minuteman Missile Being Tested Over the Skies of Los Angeles’.

b. In extended and figurative senses, as rainbow-hint, rainbow-presence, rainbow promise, etc.

ΚΠ

1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love iii. iv. sig. F2 So painted, pyed, and full of Raine-bow straines.

1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 334 [The Jesuits'] religious pietie in shew, is but a rainebow cloude, of atheall policie in action, drawne vp in vaporous dewes of cold congealed deuotions.

a1806 H. K. White Remains (1807) II. 151 There's not a wind that blows but bears with it Some rainbow promise.

a1835 F. D. Hemans To New-born in Wks. (1839) VI. 195 A rainbow-welcome thine hath been, of mingled smiles and tears.

a1835 F. D. Hemans Genius Singing to Love in Poet. Wks. (1836) 214/1 The light thy rainbow-presence throws Over the poet's dream.

1841 R. W. Emerson Ess. 1st Ser. (Boston ed.) v. 148 Beauty..resembles the most excellent things, which all have this rainbow character, defying all attempts at appropriation and use.

1861 C. Dickens Let. 17 Nov. (1997) IX. 508 Precious to me as a rainbow-hint of your friendship.

1909 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Avonlea xxvi. 304 She had come at last..to the bend in the road; and college was around it, with a hundred rainbow hopes and visions.

a1930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 17 Venus..is the female tunny-fish, round and happy among the males And dense with happy blood, dark rainbow bliss in the sea.

1953 L. P. Hartley Go-between (1958) vii. 77 I was crossing the rainbow bridge from reality to dream.

1974 D. Niatum Ascending Red Cedar Moon 5 Time formed itself from rimes of the Elwah, Rainbow river of my ancestors.

c. Characterized by racial or ethnic diversity; interracial, multiracial, or multicultural. Cf. rainbow coalition n., rainbow nation n. at Compounds 3.

ΚΠ

1976 Dyke Fall 3/2 Here are a few of the themes we are going to have: Poster, Sports, Animals, Health, Black/Ethnic/Rainbow Dykes.

1984 Newsweek (Nexis) 19 Nov. 120 Interracial children—‘rainbow children’ in today's socio jargon—experience many of the same difficulties as single-race minorities.

1992 Caribbean Week Apr. 7/2 Those who have steadfastly worked for the evolution of a ‘rainbow’ culture in Trinidad and Tobago.

1996 Sci. Amer. Feb. 11/2 The weight of numbers could create a rainbow majority that would change the face of American politics.

1999 M. P. Beals White is State of Mind (2000) xxvi. 307 Wearing long hair was my reflection of our family's Indian heritage—the pride of our rainbow mixture.

2000 M. A. O. Maxwell in N. Hopkinson Whispers from Cotton Tree Root 304 Indian and Chinese, African and dougla, all the mixed peoples of the rainbow Caribbean.

C2. In instrumental, parasynthetic, and similative uses.

rainbow-coloured adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > variegation > [adjective] > as rainbow

rainbow-coloured1593

rainbowed1786

rainbowy1800

irised1816

iridal1837

iridical1862

iridian1884

1593 M. Drayton Idea i. i The crawling snake, against the morning sunne, Now streaks him in his rayn-bow coloured cote.

1675 R. Flecknoe Treat. Sports of Wit 19 This work at first, which now these hands have wrought So Rainbow colour'd, as Thomantias Bow Cou'd never more Celestial colour show.

a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo vi, in Wks. (1721) III. 191 A loose trailing Rainbow colour'd Vest.

1835 W. Wordsworth Yarrow Revisited 25 Glens whose walls, Rock-built, are hung with rainbow-coloured mists.

1861 G. A. Spottiswoode in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1860 82 Clouds of rainbow-coloured spray.

1990 A. L. Kennedy Night Geom. & Garscadden Trains 32 We finished with all of our washing, started to sleep at night and I managed to get the dryer to chew up six pairs of rainbow coloured knickers.

rainbow-edged adj.

ΚΠ

1840 R. Browning Sordello i, in Wks. (1896) I. 124/1 Lucid dew-drops rainbow-edged.

1955 Chron.-Express (Penn Yann, N.Y.) 19 May 2/8 The remarkable steely-centered, rainbow-edged circle that was around the blazing sun.

2006 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Jrnl. Sentinel (Nexis) 8 Oct. j4 Giving the lovable lesbians down the block a rainbow-edged license can't dent your arrow-straight love for your husband.

rainbow-gay adj.

ΚΠ

1711 J. P. tr. Lucian Wks. III. 192 Within the Chambers of the Sea, With Mother of pearl so Rainbow-gay.

1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 69 O rainbow-gay the red pools lay that swilled and spilled and spread.

1965 Winnipeg Free Press 14 Apr. 63 (advt.) Fluffy, heavily looped, terry cotton in a rainbow-gay choice of colours.

† rainbow-girded adj. Obsolete

ΚΠ

?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads ii. 699 To Troy the rainbow-girded Dame right heavy news relates.

1799 Ann. Anthol. 1 7 The tears of twilight on the isle to gleam, Or rainbow-girded showers To kiss the flowery shore.

rainbow-happy adj.

ΚΠ

1940 E. Blunden Poems 1930–40 190 How comes the rainbow-happy shower!

1955 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 24 May 23/1 Wholesale furriers have gone rainbow-happy in fur dyes.

rainbow-hued adj.

ΚΠ

1801 R. Southey Thalaba II. vi. 23 Where'er his eye could reach Fair structures, rain bow-hued, arose.

1905 Burlington Mag. Nov. 100/2 He is..not yet the Watteau of a rainbow-hued yet mute and melancholy dreamland, whom we moderns love.

2007 Tri-City Herald (Washington) (Nexis) 19 May (Life section) c1 Drop by the show and you'll be sure to find plenty of rainbow-hued roses.

† rainbow-large adj. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1818 J. Keats Endymion i. 39 My higher hope Is of too wide, too rainbow-large a scope.

rainbow-painted adj.

ΚΠ

1750 Warton Ode vii, in Poet. Wks. (1802) I. 159 Through the sunshine and the shower, Descry the rainbow-painted tower.

1885 E. Douglas Queen of Hid Isle iii. i. 63 Rainbow-painted sails of royal moths.

1980 Brit. Jrnl. Philos. Sci. 31 54 He possesses a rainbow-painted car.

rainbow-sided adj.

ΚΠ

1818 J. Keats Endymion ii. 58 Fish, Golden, or rainbow-sided.

1820 J. Keats Lamia i, in Lamia & Other Poems 6 So rainbow-sided, touch'd with miseries, She [sc. a snake] seem'd, at once, some penanced lady elf.

1998 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) (Nexis) 6 Sept. (Sunday Mag.) 8 The rainbow-sided steelhead trout spawn in the Grand in the fall, winter and early spring.

rainbow-skirted adj.

ΚΠ

1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iii. iii. 108 With rainbow-skirted showers, and odorous winds.

1840 H. H. Milman Poet. Wks. II. xi. 252 Rainbow-skirted hangs each fold.

1989 Independent (Nexis) 22 Sept. 5 Studious-looking and nearly elderly women easily outnumber rainbow-skirted eco-warriors.

rainbow-sparkling adj.

ΚΠ

1630 W. Drummond Flowres of Sion (rev. ed.) 47 The..Raine-bow-sparkling Arch of Diamond cleare, Which crownes the azure of each vnder Spheare.

1961 J. L. Rosenberg tr. M. Frisch Chinese Wall 118 Remembrance of the rainbow-sparkling sea.

2006 Denver Post (Nexis) 24 Dec. e4 A fitful wind kicked up sprays of rainbow-sparkling white snow.

rainbow-sweet adj. rare

ΚΠ

1942 L. Hughes Shakespeare in Harlem 20 So if you want to know beauty's Rainbow-sweet thrill, Stroll down luscious, Delicious, fine Sugar Hill.

rainbow-tailed adj.

ΚΠ

1929 Oxf. Poetry 32 Conjure..rich waterlilies lightly to be embraced by rainbowtailed delirious dragonflies.

1985 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 19 Nov. c9/1 The rainbow-maned, rainbow-tailed steed carries her over the rainbow path.

2005 Seattle Times (Nexis) 29 Nov. e1 Rainbow-tailed peacocks and dancing Chinese tigers.

rainbow-tinted adj.

ΚΠ

1765 E. Stephens Birth-day 29 Godess, come! And with thee bring Mirth on rainbow-tinted Wing.

1827 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey IV. vi. vi. 196 The sun..lent additional brilliancy to the rainbow-tinted birds of paradise.

2000 Eng. Jrnl. 90 117/1 They want to get to the colored fonts, the fancy graphics, and the rainbow-tinted printer paper.

rainbow-winged adj.

ΚΠ

1819 C. Lloyd Nugæ Canoræ (ed. 3) xxxii. 207 Circled by Fancy's rainbow-winged swarm That live but in the sunbeam of her sight.

1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound ii. iv. 88 I see cars drawn by rainbow-winged steeds.

1902 J. B. Stephens Poet. Wks. 396 The rainbow-winged messengers floating in heaven.

2003 Newsday (N.Y.) (Nexis) 12 Jan. d20 All those ravishing Madonnas, glitter-browed saints and rainbow-winged angels possess a visual splendor that is alien to Jewish tradition.

C3.

rainbow agate n. [apparently after German Regenbogenachat (1808 or earlier)] an iridescent variety of agate.

ΚΠ

1825 R. T. Gore tr. J. F. Blumenbach Man. Elements Nat. Hist. 309 Rainbow-agate viewed in transmitted light presents a play of variegated colours.

1942 Rocks & Minerals July 239/1 Montana scenic Rainbow Agate is not common.

2004 W. D. Hausel Guide Prospecting & Rock Hunting Wyoming 9 Varieties of banded agate include Rainbow agate, which diffracts light into a rainbow spectrum of colors when thinly sliced.

rainbow baby n. (a) a child from an interracial, multicultural, or same-sex relationship (see Compounds 1c); (b) a baby born subsequent to a miscarriage, still-birth, or the death of an infant from natural causes (now the usual sense).

ΚΠ

1972 Tucson (Arizona) Daily Citizen 2 June 21/1 Her class has nicknamed Nathan ‘the rainbow baby’ because he is one-quarter each Navajo, Pima, Mexican and black.

1994 Essence May 80/1 Friends of mine, who are also rainbow babies pushing..30-something, have had similar run-ins with Whites.

2008 in C. Brooks Our Heartbreaking Choices x. I have since gone on to have a healthy baby... She is my ‘rainbow baby’. Through the clouds and the rain she came and brought light and colour back into my life.

2008 www.mumsnet.com 13 Aug. (forum post, accessed 23 June 2017) Its [sc. insemination using a turkey baster] a method lesbians have been using for years with alot of rainbow babies to show for it.

2013 in K. M. Larsen Because they Lived 158 [We] found ourselves expecting my Rainbow baby. Vaughn was born two years and one week..after Michael's stillbirth.

2016 MailOnline (Nexis) 22 Nov. After five miscarriages I had my rainbow baby two months ago.

rainbow bee-eater n. a migratory bee-eater, Merops ornatus, which has multicoloured plumage and a black eyestripe, and breeds chiefly in Australia.

ΚΠ

1958 E. T. Gilliard Living Birds of World 246/2 In Australia is found the Red-eyed Rainbow Bee-eater (M. ornatus), which is chiefly yellowish green washed with pale blue on the lower back and cheeks.

2004 Biol. Conservation 120 55/1 Rainbow bee-eaters are aerial insectivores, and rarely come to the ground other than to breed.

rainbow bird n. Australian = rainbow bee-eater n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Coraciiformes (kingfisher, etc.) > [noun] > family Meropidae > unspecified and miscellaneous types

firebird1892

rainbow bird1911

1911 J. A. Leach Austral. Bird Bk. 107 Rainbow-bird, Aust. Bee-eater,..Spinetail, Pintail, Merops ornatus.

1980 R. Ansell & R. Percy To Fight Wild 75 Swooping over the plain, bee-eaters or rainbow birds: very pretty little birds, green, pale blue and golden bronze, with a distinctive call.

2002 Sunday Tasmanian (Nexis) 14 July t24 Dalhousie is home to 150 bird species, from fairy martins to rainbow birds.

rainbow boa n. a large constricting snake, Epicrates cenchria (family Boidae), typically orange-brown with slight iridescence and dark ring-like markings, occurring in Central and South American forests.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Boidae (boas) > types of epicrates > epicrates cenchris (rainbow boa)

ringed boa1802

rainbow boa1910

1910 R. L. Ditmars Reptiles of World iv. 231 The Rainbow Boa..derives its name from a gorgeous iridescence playing over the scales of a healthy example.

1958 J. Carew Black Midas vi. 119 On our way back I saw a rainbow boa coiled around a branch.

1998 S. Orlean Orchid Thief 185 They arrested a man..whose suitcase was packed with forty-seven rainbow boas, eleven redtail boas..and twelve pit vipers.

rainbow cactus n. each of three small cylindrical cacti of south-western North America, Echinocereus pectinatus, E. rigidissimus, and E. dasyacanthus, which have red, pink, or yellow flowers and alternating rows of pinkish and grey-white spines creating a banded appearance.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cactus and allies > [noun] > other cacti

hedgehog thistle1597

Opuntia1601

mescal1709

Barbados gooseberry1756

night-flowering cereus1789

vygebosch1795

night-blooming cereus1799

rhipsalis1819

pigface1830

window plant1838

old man cactus1845

cholla1846

fish-hook cactus1846

spleenwort1846

epiphyllum1858

old man's head1858

rainbow cactus1860

green snake1864

torchwood1866

queen of the night1870

vingerpol1875

nipple cactus1876

niggerhead1877

rat's tail cactus1878

rat-tail cactus1878

Christmas cactus1880

barrel cactus1881

peyote1885

mistletoe cactus1889

schlumbergera1898

pincushion1940

opuntioid1944

1860 Dawson's Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily Times 2 June 2/1 The Exhibition of the Allen County Horticultural Society... F. P. Randall—Rainbow Cactus.

1948 Amer. Midl. Naturalist 40 531 Rainbow cactus, Echinocereus dasyacanthus, with huge orange-yellow blossoms that open fullest the second day.

1991 Plant Systematics & Evol. 178 107 Numerous artificial crosses between the putative parents E. coccineus..and E. dasyacanthus Engelm. (Texas Rainbow Cactus) were successful.

† rainbow chalcedony n. Obsolete rare an iridescent variety of chalcedony.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.

ΚΠ

1865 D. Page Handbk. Geol. Terms (ed. 2) 382 Rainbow Chalcedony, a variety of chalcedony consisting of thin concentric layers, which when cut across exhibit an iridescence resembling the colours of the rainbow.

rainbow chase n. figurative a quest which is pointless because its object is illusory.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [noun] > a profitless undertaking

wild-goose race1594

wild goose chase1597

fool's erranda1629

job1680

water haul1823

rainbow chase1840

Sisyphism1846

blind alley1854

fool's gold1870

mug's game1900

Saltash luck1914

dead end1922

boondoggle1947

1840 Knickerbocker Dec. 543 (title) The Rainbow Chase.

c1843 C. Brontë Poems (1984) 253 I Now had only to retrace The long and lonely road So lately in the rainbow chase With fearless ardour trod.

1886 St. James's Gaz. 2 June 10 A fact which had led Mr. Rylands off a rainbow-chase after a visionary Chancellorship.

2003 Scotsman (Nexis) 4 July 28 The next phase of the sector's rainbow chase is now definitely consolidation to ease the pain.

rainbow-chaser n. figurative a person who undertakes a rainbow chase.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [noun] > a profitless undertaking > one who

rainbow-chaser1888

1888 N. Amer. Rev. Dec. 693 The roseate imagination of one of the Democratic managers has supplied our political slang with the suggestive epithet of ‘rainbow chaser’.

1925 D. Senior Rainbow Chasers iii. 33 ‘We are all Rainbow-Chasers in youth,’ I retorted. ‘And even in old age the hope of finding the Crock of Gold is hard to kill.’

1999 J. Raban Passage to Juneau iii. 118 I was Oedipus, not Telemachus—an escapee, a new-lifer, a rainbow-chaser.

rainbow-chasing n. figurative the action of undertaking a rainbow chase.

ΚΠ

1890 San Antonio (Texas) Daily Express 2 Mar. 9/3 Mr. Cleveland had never been accused of rainbow chasing.

1918 H. Trench Napoleon i. i. 6 How should he deal with Napoleon? As well try to ride a comet. No; it's some rainbow-chasing!

2002 Guardian (Nexis) 14 Dec. (Guide Suppl.) 4 So in the end where does all this rainbow chasing lead us?

rainbow coalition n. originally U.S. Politics an alliance of different political groups or parties working together to achieve a particular objective; esp. (in the United States) a collection of minority political and ethnic groups formed by Revd Jesse Jackson in 1983; also in extended use.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > politics > [noun] > forming of groups of parties or powers > a grouping of parties or powers

coalition1715

coalescence1764

rainbow coalition1932

1932 Washington Post 2 Oct. 7/6 It was not until the Democratic high command abandoned all hope of explaining away the Democratic record in the last session of Congress that Gov. Roosevelt turned to the West and the formation of the Rainbow Coalition.

1969 N.Y. Times 13 Oct. 90/3 Collectively they were referred to as the ‘Rainbow Coalition’ of black power, brown power, and white power.

1983 N.Y. Times 14 Nov. 18/5 Unity among the white poor, minorities and women will create a ‘Rainbow Coalition’ that can have a significant impact on our process of government.

1986 Today 6 May 16/7 The Alliance's best chance of something spectacular is in Liverpool where they hope to gain minority control by forming a ‘rainbow’ coalition with Labour opponents of council deputy leader Derek Hatton.

2006 Los Angeles Times 29 Apr. a10/4 In Chicago, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of his Rainbow Coalition have pledged to participate.

rainbow crystal n. an iridescent variety of rock crystal.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > rock crystal > [noun] > varieties of

rainbow-stone1587

Bristol-diamond1596

Bristol1618

Bristol-stone1646

Bristol-gem1706

rainbow crystal1748

cairngorm1794

rhinestone1871

iris1874

the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > tectosilicate > [noun] > quartz > crystalline quartzes > rock crystal

crystalOE

irisa1387

crystalline1539

rainbow-stone1587

Cornish diamond1591

diamond1591

mountain crystal1598

rock crystal1598

pebble1688

Cornish stone1695

Welsh diamond1705

rainbow crystal1748

quartz crystal1770

Irish diamond1774

1748 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. I. 179 The Iris, or Rain-bow Crystal of authors.

1962 Times 29 Oct. 13/3 (caption) The necklace, designed in Paris for Adrian Mann, of gold and shimmering rainbow crystals, is at Dickens & Jones in London.

1989 S. Holbeche Power Gems & Crystals ii. 26 The Aboriginals still use crystals for medicine... They particularly value the Rainbow crystals containing colour prisms because these hold the energy of the Rainbow Serpent.

rainbow darter n. a small North American freshwater fish, Etheostoma caeruleum (family Percidae), the male of which is orange-red with dark blue vertical bars.In quot. 1876 apparently: a collective name for fishes of the former genus Poecilichthys.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Percidae (perches) > [noun] > member of subfamily Etheostominae

darter1842

Johnny1875

rainbow darter1876

1876 D. S. Jordan Man. Vertebr. Northern U.S. 219 (heading) Pœcilichthys, Agassiz. Rainbow Darters.

1882 D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert Synopsis Fishes N. Amer. 517 P. cæruleus... Rainbow Darter... Males olivaceous..; sides with 12 indigo-blue bars.

1903 T. H. Bean Fishes N.Y. 518 The blue darter, blue Johnny, rainbow darter, or soldier fish, is found in the Ohio valley and in some parts of the Mississippi valley.

1991 L. M. Page & B. M. Burr Field Guide Freshwater Fishes 315 Rainbow Darter..is deepest under middle of 1st dorsal fin; has unscaled cheek and breast, red in anal fin of male.

rainbow flag n. a flag upon which there is a representation of a rainbow, or a pattern of stripes regarded as reminiscent of a rainbow, spec. (a) the flag of the United States; (b) a flag used to represent international peace and unity; (c) a flag used to symbolize gay pride.

ΚΠ

1818 J. Neal Battle of Niagara iv. 81 The rainbow flag is there, with sheeted flow, And they with silent tread, and cool determined brow.

1838 G. P. Morris Deserted Bride 29 Hail with pride and loud hurrahs, Streaming from a thousand spars, Freedom's rainbow-flag of stars! Symbol of our land!

1909 Washington Post 25 Sept. 4/4 The twin rainbow flags of peace will be unfurled from the roof of a downtown skyscraper by two little girls.

1947 N.Y. Times 7 Aug. 2/6 On the second anniversary of the bomb attack on Hiroshima..a large wooden cross, a rainbow flag of all nations and a Hebrew banner were raised.

1988 R. Shilts Band played On ii. ii. 14 Gay cowboys from the Reno Gay Rodeo pranced their horses down Market Street, waving the flags of Nevada and California, as well as the rainbow flag that had become the standard of California gays.

2002 N.Y. Mag. 29 Apr. 29 Gay people in New York eschew the constant need to be gay. Difficult carrying that rainbow flag when you're just trying to make rent.

rainbow flower n. (a) an iris (the plant; cf. iris n. 5) (rare); (b) a many-coloured flower (poetic).

ΚΠ

1773 J. Hill Veg. Syst. XXIII. 20 The Iris, or Rainbow Flower.

1816 P. B. Shelley Alastor 41 Nurses of rainbow flowers and branching moss.

1928 E. Blunden Retreat 67 What angel dropped her rainbow-flowers In that horizon blue of ours?

1965 Modesto (California) Bee 17 May a3/4 The iris, sometimes referred to the rainbow flower, is available in every color except scarlet and green.

rainbow lorikeet n. a small, vividly coloured Australasian parrot, Trichoglossus haematodus, occurring in many different races on islands in the south-west Pacific.

ΚΠ

1924 C. E. Lord & H. H. Scott Synopsis Vertebr. Animals Tasmania 187 The Rainbow Lorikeet, like most of the brush-tongued parrots, is to be met with usually in flocks.

1958 E. T. Gilliard Living Birds of World 201/1 Sometimes they occur in bands of thousands, as, for example, does the Rainbow lorikeet.

2001 R. Wittenberg & M. J. W. Cock Invasive Alien Species iii. 97 The rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus) is a brightly coloured gregarious parrot, native to parts of Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea and east to New Caledonia.

rainbow lory n. = rainbow lorikeet n.

ΚΠ

1911 J. A. Leach Austral. Bird Bk. 88 Blue Mountain Lorikeet..Rainbow Lory..Trichoglossus novae-hollandiae.

1984 Condor 86 126/1 Of the 30 visits by other birds, four were by larger birds, the Rainbow Lory (Trichoglossus haematodus..) and Superb Bird of Paradise.

2004 M. Warden Lory Owner's Survival Guide i. 21 The most distinctive trait about this particular rainbow lory is the red breast feathers with dark blue edging.

rainbow nation n. (also with capital initials) a multiracial or multicultural nation; spec. South Africa in the post-apartheid era.

ΚΠ

1992 Chicago Tribune 16 Feb. iv. 3/4 I find the idea of a multicultural or ‘rainbow’ nation unconvincing.

1994 N. Mandela in Chicago Tribune 10 May 1 We shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall,..assured of their inalienable right to human dignity—a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.

2001 Telewest Cable Guide Jan. 25/1 This month finds your gregarious gourmand in the rainbow nation of South Africa.

2014 K. L. Seegers tr. D. Meyer Cobra (2015) lx. 358 ‘We are the South African Police Service’,..‘And what a splendid representation of the Rainbow Nation you are.’

rainbow pitta n. a pitta, Pitta iris, which has a mainly green back and a black head and breast and is endemic to parts of tropical northern Australia.

ΚΠ

1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. IV. Pl. 3 The Rainbow Pitta differs..from all other known species of this lovely tribe of birds.

1928 W. Robertson Coo-ee Talks 36 The Rainbow Pitta..inhabits the dense bamboo-jungles near the coast.

2013 I. Campbell & S. Woods Wildlife Austral. 164 Rainbow Pitta also boasts glistening blue wing patches that glow brilliantly from the understory or flash vividly in flight, and its striking crimson undertail can also create a stir.

† rainbow rash n. Medicine Obsolete a skin disease characterized by the presence of vesicles surrounded by concentric rings in various shades of red; (perhaps) erythema multiforme.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > tetter

tettera700

rainbow rash1806

rainbow worm1817

1806 Edinb. Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 2 57/1 Urticaria (nettle-rash.)..Iris (rainbow-rash.)

1822 J. M. Good Study Med. IV. 612 The rainbow worm or tetter..was by Dr. Willan at first mistaken for an exanthem,..on which account, in the first edition of his Table of Classification, he called it a rainbow rash.

1901 tr. F. E. Bilz Nat. Method Healing I. 625 The so called rainbow rash is also a species of herpes. It generally makes its appearance in the spring and autumn.

rainbow runner n. an elongated carangid fish, Elegatis bipinnulata, which has a bluish-green back and blue and yellow lengthwise stripes, found in warm seas worldwide and popular as a game fish.

ΚΠ

1937 L. A. Walford Marine Game Fishes 65 As a game fish the rainbow runner ranks with the California yellowtail, and takes the same lures.

1991 Times 27 July (Sat. Review) 36/4 We dined on exotica such as rainbow-runners.

2004 D. Dalton Rough Guide Philippines 298 Fish Bowl..takes you on a blue-water descent to the top of a reef where whitetip reef sharks, sweetlips and rainbow runners are common.

rainbow serpent n. (in Australian Aboriginal mythology) a large snake associated with water.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > mythical types of serpent (miscellaneous)

siren1340

dipsas1382

haemorrhoida1398

prestera1398

bloodworm1587

viper1602

dryine1605

dipsad1608

lindworm1814

lingworm1870

rainbow serpent1926

the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > [noun] > member of (snake) > mythological

cockatricea1382

henatrice1840

rainbow serpent1926

1926 A. R. Radcliffe-Brown in Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 56 19 There is found in widely separated parts of Australia a belief in a huge serpent which lives in certain pools or water-holes. This serpent is associated, and sometimes identified, with the rainbow... Hence the rainbow-serpent may come to occupy an important place in the beliefs and customs relating to medicine-men and the practice of magic.

1965 R. Morris & D. Morris Men & Snakes i. 19 The most spectacular snakes in Australian aboriginal art are the mythical rainbow serpents. These usually live deep in waterholes during the dry season, but take to the thunder clouds when the rains come, sometimes appearing in the sky as rainbows.

1977 Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Jan. 65/1 At the foot of the monolith is an extensive Aboriginal art gallery including an ochre rock painting of the sacred rainbow serpent.

2005 Global Aug. 25/1 Images such as the rainbow serpent, Namarrgon the lightning man, and the Mimi spirits, who taught the people to paint, adorn the walls.

rainbow snake n. (a) either of two non-venomous colubrid snakes of the American genus Farancia; esp. F. erytrogramma, a large glossy, striped snake frequenting swamps and streams in the south-eastern United States; (b) Australian = rainbow serpent n.

ΚΠ

1899 R. L. Ditmars in N.Y. Times Mag. 19 Feb. 10/3 The star of this collection is the ‘rainbow snake’, a native of Florida.

1949 Times–Picayune (New Orleans) 23 Oct. (Mag.) 2/2 (caption) Mrs. Rainbow Snake laid herself a passel of nice white eggs.

1963 E. Worrell Reptiles of Austral. p. x In most North Australian aboriginal tribes the seed of a child is said to enter the womb of the mother when she bathes in a pool inhabited by the Rainbow Snake, creator of all life.

1995 C. Mattison Encycl. Snakes 133/1 This behaviour..is also seen in the American mud and rainbow snakes, Farancia abacura and F. erytrogramma.

rainbow starfrontlet n. a hummingbird, Coeligena iris, which has mainly greenish and chestnut plumage with colourful iridescent patches on the crown and breast, occurring in the Andes of Ecuador and Peru; cf. sense 4b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Apodiformes > [noun] > family Trochilidae (humming-bird) > unspecified and miscellaneous types of

zumbador1758

sunbeam1769

black warrior1831

hermit-bird1837

Anna's hummingbird1839

jacobin1843

straight-tail1843

vervain hummingbird1847

wedge-bill1848

fiery topaz1854

sungem1856

wood-star1859

calliope1861

rainbow1861

sabre-wing1861

sawbill1861

swallowtail1861

sword-bill1861

thorn-bill1861

visor-bearer1861

warrior1861

wood-nymph1861

puffleg1869

calliope hummingbird1872

flame-bearer1882

shear-tail1885

plature1890

rainbow starfrontlet1966

1966 R. Meyer de Schauensee Species Birds S. Amer. 182 Coeligena iris... Rainbow Star-frontlet.

2003 H. Adès & M. Graham Rough Guide Ecuador (ed. 2) iv. 272 A very rewarding half-day hike,..good for spotting birds like the bearded guan, grey-breasted mountain toucan, rainbow starfrontlet, [etc.].

† rainbow-stone n. Obsolete rare = rainbow crystal n.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > rock crystal > [noun] > varieties of

rainbow-stone1587

Bristol-diamond1596

Bristol1618

Bristol-stone1646

Bristol-gem1706

rainbow crystal1748

cairngorm1794

rhinestone1871

iris1874

the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > tectosilicate > [noun] > quartz > crystalline quartzes > rock crystal

crystalOE

irisa1387

crystalline1539

rainbow-stone1587

Cornish diamond1591

diamond1591

mountain crystal1598

rock crystal1598

pebble1688

Cornish stone1695

Welsh diamond1705

rainbow crystal1748

quartz crystal1770

Irish diamond1774

1587 A. Golding tr. Solinus Worthie Work xlv. sig. xiiii^v The Iris or Rainbowstone.

1797 Encycl. Brit. XII. 270/1 The iris, or rainbow-stone, seems to be no other than a moon-stone.

rainbow trout n. a large trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (formerly Salmo gairdneri), with an iridescent band along the side, native to western North America and widely introduced elsewhere as a sporting and food fish.

ΘΚΠ

rainbow1779

hardhead1792

mountain trout1805

brook trout1869

silver trout1873

rainbow trout1881

steel-head1882

1881 Chester (Pa.) Daily Times 9 Feb. 2/1 The California mountain trout takes its name, rainbow trout, from the beautiful band of colors that runs along the side of the fish.

1936 J. T. Jenkins Fishes Brit. Isles 233 The Americans give the name of Rainbow Trout to the fish known as Salmo shasta, and what we call a Rainbow Trout is known to them as a Steelhead Trout.

1961 E. S. Herald Living Fishes of World 78/1 The rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri, and its several subspecies are highly popular with western American sportsmen.

1986 Gourmet June 90/3 Such treats as..smoked salmon pâté, smoked rainbow trout, and kippered (lightly smoked) salmon.

2006 Wall St. Jrnl. 7 July w10/4 The ranch has two ponds stocked with rainbow trout; guests mostly catch and release, but ranch chefs will cook one for dinner.

† rainbow tub n. Obsolete a tub used in calico-printing in the production of rainbow colours.

ΚΠ

?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 43 Toby and Rainbow Tub Maker.

† rainbow worm n. Medicine Obsolete rare = rainbow rash n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > tetter

tettera700

rainbow rash1806

rainbow worm1817

1817 J. M. Good Physiol. Syst. Nosol. 482 Rain-bow Worm.

1830 G. Macbraire Syst. Med. Nosol. 100 [Herpes] Iris, rainbow worm; it is generally situated on the back of the hand or the palms and fingers, sometimes on the instep.

rainbow wrasse n. any of several brightly coloured wrasses; esp. Coris julis of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, the male of which has an orange-red zigzag line along the side; cf. rainbowfish n. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Labrioidei (wrasse) > [noun] > family Labridae > member of genus Coris (rainbow-fish)

rainbow wrasse1836

Maori1882

rainbowfish1955

1836 W. Yarrell Hist. Brit. Fishes I. 291 (heading) The rainbow wrasse.

1864 J. Couch Hist. Fishes Brit. Islands III. 51 The usual size of the Rainbow Wrass is in length from four to six or seven inches.

1972 Oxf. Bk. Vertebrates 62/1 Coris julis (Rainbow Wrasse), common in the Mediterranean and adjacent Atlantic, appears only rarely in British waters.

1993 R. van der Elst Guide Common Sea Fishes S. Afr. 232 Thalassoma purpureum. Common names..rainbow or surge wrasse... Many rainbow wrasse are caught by shore anglers.

Derivatives

ˈrainbow-like adj.

ΚΠ

1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iv. vi. 103 If his fathers darling, then perchance he is clothed with a coat, rain-bow like, striped, and streaked..with divers colours.

1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 86 Each Cornea seemed to have its Iris, (or Rain-bow-like Circle) and Apertures or Pupils distinct.

1777 W. Wales Orig. Astron. Obs. 344 The southern lights were exceeding bright and beautiful, and appeared of a semi-circular, or rainbow-like form.

1827 D. Douglas Jrnl. 1 May (1914) 12 The heavenly area of the solid glacier, and the rainbow-like tints of its shattered fragments.

1847 Ld. Lindsay Sketches Hist. Christian Art I. 119 Five concentric rainbow-like semicircles.

1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xxxv. 395 Stella had a heartful of wistful dreams and fancies, as aerial and rainbow-like as Anne's own.

1989 Sci. Amer. May 95/3 Astronomers were on slightly firmer ground regarding continuum spectra: the continuous, rainbowlike background on which a star's absorption or emission lines are superposed.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	rainbow
释义	rainbown. Brit. /ˈreɪnbəʊ/, U.S. /ˈreɪnˌboʊ/ Forms: see rain n.¹ and bow n.¹; also late Middle English raybowe. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with or formed similarly to Old Frisian reinboga (West Frisian reinbôge ), Middle Dutch rēgenbōge , rēghenbōghe (Dutch regenboog ), Middle Low German rēgenbōge , rēgenbāge , Old High German reganbogo (Middle High German regenboge , German Regenbogen , †Regenboge ), Old Icelandic regnbogi , Old Swedish räghnbughi (Swedish regnbåge ), Old Danish ræghænbvghæ (Danish regnbue ) < the Germanic base of rain n.¹ + the Germanic base of bow n.¹In sense 2a ultimately after Hellenistic Greek ἷρις iris n.; compare iris n. 2, 4a. 1. a. An arch of concentric coloured bands (conventionally described as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) visible in the sky in a direction opposite to the sun when sunlight shines through rain or other water droplets in the atmosphere. Cf. bow n.¹ 2, iris n. 2a.The dispersion (dispersion n. 4) of sunlight refracted by raindrops in the air produces an arc composed of a series of colours spanning the visible spectrum from red on the outside to violet on the inside (a primary rainbow; a secondary rainbow has the order of colours reversed).In many cultures the rainbow has mythical or legendary significance. In Genesis 9:13–16 it is a sign of the covenant made by God with Noah whereby he undertook never to destroy the earth with a flood (cf. quot. OE²).Cf. primary rainbow n. at primary adj. and n. Compounds, secondary bow or rainbow at secondary adj. 3g. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > rainbow > [noun] bowa1000 rainbowOE heaven-bowc1390 iris1490 rainy bow1597 archa1616 bow of promise1820 the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > sunlight or sunshine > ray of > produced by sunlight shining on mist or rain rainbowOE limb1801 beam1843 OE Antwerp Gloss. (1955) 216 Yris, renboga. OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) ix. 13 Ic sette minne renbogan [L. arcum meum] on wolcnum. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 637 A token of luuen Taunede him in ðe wakene a-buuen, Rein-bowe, men cleped, reed and blo. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 1185 Whan hir list the Sky tempeste,The reinbowe is hir [sc. Juno's] Messager. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 1976 (MED) A couenand neu ic hight to þe, þou sal fra now mi rainbow [a1400 Fairf. rayn-boghe; a1400 Gött. rainbou] see. ?a1450 tr. Macer Herbal (Stockh.) (1949) 100 (MED) Gladene in englissh is clepid iris in latin, for his floures hauyn colour like þe reinbowe. c1475 (c1399) Mum & Sothsegger (Cambr. Ll.4.14) (1936) iii. 248 Iche rewme vndir roff of þe reyne-bowe. 1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 11 Iris..being..stricken of the Sunne his beames..doth represent and shewe both the figure and colours of the Rainebow vpon the wall next to it. 1614 G. Markham 2nd Bk. Eng. Husbandman i. i. 4 If you shall see one or more Weather-gals which are like Raine-bowes, onely they arise from the Horison but a small way vpward. 1698 tr. F. Froger Relation Voy. Coasts Afr. 169 This same night, we beheld a Rain-bow cross the heavens, which..had a very lively red colour. 1752 ‘H. Beaumont’ Crito 5 I should as soon think of dissecting a Rainbow..as of forming grave and punctual Notions of Beauty. 1788 T. Jefferson Let. 19 July in Papers (1956) XIII. 378 I have seen a leg of a rainbow plunge down on the river running through that valley. 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. ii. 12 In front of us a magnificent rainbow, fixing one of its arms in the valley. 1910 H. de V. Stacpoole Blue Lagoon III. xvi. 122 Torrential showers followed by bursts of sunshine, rainbows, and rain-dogs in the sky. 1965 William & Mary Q. 22 678 The Caribbean—cloud masses on the mountains, rainbows bridging the valleys, peacock-like colors of the sea. 2007 Adventure Trav. Jan. 53/1 You're on the Inca Trail, with a rainbow carving through a charcoal sky. b. A similar arc of coloured light formed in other ways, as in spray, through mist, or through a prism.horizontal rainbow: see the first element. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > rainbow rainbowc1384 iris1490 water-bow1827 c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) Apoc. iv. 3 The reynbowe was in the cumpas of the seete, lijk to the siȝt of smaragdyn. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 337 Ȝif þat stoon is i-holde aȝenst þe sonne, it schal schape a reynbowe [?a1475 anon. tr. reynbawe]. a1500 in A. Zettersten Middle Eng. Lapidary (1968) 32 (MED) Iris is a stone þat hathe many seedis..The Irys maketh þe raynbowe ayenste the sonne vpon the wall. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) Rev. iv. 3 There was a rayne boll aboute the seate. a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 33/2 The Ocean in Mountains..over-tumbling, tumbling over Rocks, Casts various Rain-bows. 1708 tr. J. Ozanam Recreations Math. & Physical 398 Oftentimes we see Rainbows in Water-works or Spouts, when we stand between the Sun and the Fountain. 1799 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 4 228 A vapour or spray of considerable density, resembling a cloud, continually ascends, in which a rainbow is always seen when the sun shines. 1802 S. T. Coleridge Hymn before Sunrise in Poems 379 Motionless torrents! silent cataracts!..Who bade the sun Clothe you with rainbows? 1846 C. Dickens Pictures from Italy 264 The..river dashes, headlong, from a rocky height, amidst shining spray and rainbows. 1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xiii. 130 The fairy glass is as lovely as a dream... It's all full of rainbows—just little young rainbows that haven't grown big yet. 1997 Boards Mar. 54/3 Timo's mast disappears from sight on the swell in front and then reappears amongst spray and rainbows in a flash. c. Any of various other luminous atmospheric phenomena manifesting as arcs or rings but lacking (or appearing to lack) the full spectrum of colours. Cf. halo n. 1, corona n.¹ 1, fogbow n. at fog n.² Compounds 3.moon-rainbow: see the first element. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > luminous appearance > [noun] > anthelion rainbow1555 crown1563 corone1569 corona1658 anthelion1670 fogbow1820 glory1823 1555 R. Eden Of Pole Antartike in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 246 I sawe a whyte raynebowe abowt mydnyght. 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1202 Rainbowes, haloes or garlands about the Sunne, Moone, etc. 1766 L. Carter Diary 23 July (1965) I. 319 The moon by rising pretty clear to the Eastward made about one third of a rainbow very visible in the night but without any colour. 1793 J. Adams Elem. Useful Knowl. cix. 262 Rainbows sometimes appear by night in the moonshine. 1870 Nature 8 Sept. 381/1 The image of the sun was orange; the two rainbows which surmounted it consisted of two colours only, red and orange mingled together, and placed symmetrically in each of the rainbows with respect to the separating gray band. 1946 G. Stimpson Thousand Things 406 Rainbows by moonlight, known as moonbows, are unusual but not rare phenomena. 1986 A. Wilkinson Blessing of Fleet in Riverkeeper (1991) 22 He is also forever looking for sun dogs—little rainbows way up in the sky in the early morning, streaks of two or three colors. 1995 Sky & Telescope May 102/2 (caption) Known as a ‘white rainbow’, the evanescent fogbow was photographed at sea. d. A picture or representation of a rainbow, esp. in Heraldry. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > representations of heavenly bodies or phenomena > [noun] > rainbow rainbow1580 1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. in Euphues (new ed.) sig. ¶ Arachne hauing wouen in cloth of Arras, a Raine-bow of sundry stikes, it was obiected..that in hir worke there wanted some coulours, for that in a Raine-bow there should bee all. 1610 E. Bolton Elements of Armories vii. 45 Ingva was the hereditary name of the Perv Kings, and the gentilitial armes of the Inguas were a rain-bow with two snakes extended. 1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients i. v. 67 They doe marke the wide heaven beset with an endlesse number of bright and glorious starres; the watery clouds of severall colours, together with the miraculously painted raine-bow. 1780 J. Edmondson Compl. Body Heraldry II. (Gloss.) Rain-Bow, is represented in armory as a semi-circle, of various colours, arising from clouds. 1780 Encycl. Brit. V. 3599/2 ‘Argent, a Rainbow with a Cloud at each end’... This is part of the crest to the earl of Hopeton's coat-of-arms. 1847 H. Gough Gloss. Terms Brit. Heraldry 262 Rainbow, Argent, a rainbow, in fess throughout proper. 1882 J. E. Cussans Handbk. Heraldry vi. 103 The Signs of the Zodiac, Planets.., Rainbows, and Clouds, are sometimes, though very rarely, employed as Charges. 1969 J. Franklyn & J. Tanner Encycl. Dict. Heraldry 273/1 The simple blazon, ‘a rainbow’ has taken the place of all other and more ponderous devices. 1993 R. Shilts Conduct Unbecoming iv. xxxii. 311 Baker's design became part of the official logo of the parade, a rainbow surrounded the Greek symbol lambda, long identified with the gay movement. e. figurative. A symbol of calm after a storm; (often with allusion to Genesis 9:13–16) a symbol of hope, a promise of peace, goodwill, etc. ΚΠ 1658 J. Robinson Endoxa x. 52 The Rain bow hath a Telesmatical signification, for the preservation of the Universe from Inundation. 1673 J. Milton On Christ's Nativity: Hymn (rev. ed.) xv, in Poems (new ed.) 8 Yea, Truth and Justice then Will down return to men, Orb'd in a rainbow.] 1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Second 18 Has Death his Fopperies? then well may Life Put on her Plume, and in her Rainbow shine. 1813 Ld. Byron Bride Abydos ii. xx. 398 Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life! 1837 T. De Quincey Revolt of Tartars in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 101/1 The promised rest proved a mere phantom of the wilderness—a visionary rainbow, which fled before their hope-sick eyes. 1876 J. Saunders Lion in Path iii He has seen in the tears of the nation a new rainbow of hope. 1961 P. G. Wodehouse Ice in Bedroom i. 11 For the first time in years Frederick Fotheringay Widgeon is sitting on top of the world with a rainbow round his shoulder. 1973 Sunday Advocate News (Barbados) 16 Dec. 8/4 This offer is a rainbow after the flood speaking hope for the future and a covenant with its denizens. 2004 R. Samaddar Politics of Dialogue ii. 35 Themes of nonviolence, human nature, feminist education, pathological cure, and community restructuring, form the rainbow of peace. 2. †a. The iris of the eye; = iris n. 4a. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > sense organ > sight organ > parts of sight organ > [noun] > iris iris1525 rainbow1525 bow1611 irid1822 1525 Anothomia in tr. H. von Brunschwig Noble Experyence Handy Warke Surg. iii. sig. Bi^v/2 There be iij. materyall circles y^t ronne about the iye, and because they be so different of colours they be callyd yride[s] or rain bowys. 1587 A. Hunton tr. J. Guillemeau Treat. Eyes i. iii. sig. A5^v The apple of the eie is..enuironned with Iris, or the Rainbowe. 1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. xiii. xiii. 477 [An ulcer] about the circle of the Iris or Rainebow. 1696 J. Edwards Demonstr. Existence God ii. ii. 32 This Black Circle which I am now speaking of, is environ'd with a Bright Iris or Rainbow, so call'd because 'tis of divers Colours. 1770 J. Keill Anat. Human Body Abridged (ed. 14) 11 The iris, or rainbow, in the middle of which is the pupilla, or sight. b. A patch of bright colours on an object, resembling or reminiscent of a rainbow; (similarly) a group of objects of various colours, or a many-coloured object. ΚΠ 1651 J. Ogilby Fables of Æsop Paraphras'd ii. 29 His flowing main, and bushie tail was ty'd With ribands, baffled Rain-bowes in their pride. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis ix, in tr. Virgil Wks. 464 On equal Wings she pois'd her Weight, And form'd a radiant Rainbow in her flight. 1715 tr. G. Panciroli Hist. Memorable Things Lost I. ii. xvii. 113 [A vessel made of Electrum] discovers Poison, by a Rain-bow in the Cup. 1788 W. Cowper On Mrs. Montague's Feather-hangings 4 The peacock sends his heavenly dyes, His rainbows and his starry eyes. 1820 J. Keats Ode on Melancholy in Lamia & Other Poems 141 Glut thy sorrow on a morning rose, Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave. 1869 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad xvi. 153 A noble palace,..a grand promenade before it,..all about it rainbows of flowers, and colossal statues. 1891 O. Wilde Picture of Dorian Gray xi. 202 He loved the red gold of the sunstone, and the moonstone's pearly whiteness, and the broken rainbow of the milky opal. 1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xxi. 241 They sat on the..stones..and made rainbows in the water with little twigs dipped in fir balsam... ‘Oh, look, Diana, what a lovely rainbow! Do you suppose the dryad will come out after we go away and take it for a scarf?’ 1920 E. Wharton Age of Innocence xxi. 212 Brown heads and golden.., and pale muslins and flower-wreathed hats mingled in a tender rainbow. 1946 D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist (U.K. ed.) i. 19 In mid-April I had left the ranch, wanting not to see this rainbow fade. 1980 A. Tyler Morgan's Passing ii. vi. 52 Neon signs blurred into rainbows, and the taillights of cars, sliding off into the fog, seemed to contract and then vanish. 2004 R. A. L. Jones Soft Machines iv. 79 Rainbows of colour appear as streaks across the surface, seeming to move as we tilt the surface. †c. Boxing slang. Obsolete. A bruise. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > [noun] > bruise brusurea1375 frousshure1477 bruise1533 wan1533 battering1558 squat1578 intuse1590 battery1594 crush1601 contusiona1616 sugillation1623 mishanter1754 stone bruise1805 rainbow1810 birze1818 pound1862 strawberry1921 1810 Sporting Mag. Dec. 100 A violent blow on the forehead, by which he picked up a handsome rainbow. d. U.S. slang. A capsule containing the barbiturates quinalbarbitone and amylobarbitone (cf. Tuinal n.). Now rare. [So called from the red and blue stripes of the capsules.] ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > sedative drug or tablet tranquillizer1800 goof ball1938 goof pill1948 pill1951 bomber1962 rainbow1963 downer1966 downie1966 down1967 disco biscuit1981 1963 M. Braly Shake him till he Rattles (1964) 21 Time to get rid of whatever they had—horse, pot, bennies,..dexies, or rainbows—any of the dozens of drugs on the growing palette of illegal stimulation. 1968 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) 3 ii. 39 Rainbows, a type of barbiturate in red and blue capsules. (Drug users' jargon.) 1972 J. Wambaugh Blue Knight (1973) xvi. 303 One lousy time I dropped a red devil and a rainbow with some guys at school, and that's all the dope I ever took. 1976 M. Millar Ask for me Tomorrow xiv. 115 Getting their kicks by mixing drinks and drugs, like..the high school kid carrying a flask of vodka to wash down the rainbows. 2002 J. A. Maville & C. G. Huerta Health Promotion in Nursing xvi. 324/2 Substances referred to by names such as ecstasy, yellow sunshine, cotton candy, and rainbow sound exciting, comforting, and inviting. 3. Something which consists of many elements; (also) a wide variety or range of related things. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession > long or complete > and wide-ranging range1564 rainbow1662 band1929 spectrum1936 1662 R. Baker Theatrum Redivivum 60 He hath another Argument, which we may call his Rain-bow, seeing there are as many Vices in it, as there are Colours in the Rain-bow. 1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 247 A rainbow of sweet sounds, Just spanning the soothed sense. 1869 A. Trollope Phineas Finn lxx Men of all shades of politics were there,..and a whole rainbow of foreign ministers with their stars. 1920 A. Repplier Points of Friction 15 They professed a languid amusement at the ‘rainbow of official documents’ which proved every nation in the right. 1961 in Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) A catchall large enough to hold a rainbow of opinions. 1977 New Yorker 20 June 93/1 The switching of instruments..results in a rainbow of timbres and tones. 2002 Esquire Apr. 40/2 Arabica beans, which grow on equatorial mountainsides and contain a majestic rainbow of flavors. 4. a. = rainbow trout n. at Compounds 3. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Salmonidae (salmon) > [noun] > genus Salmo > trout (unspecified and miscellaneous) > salmo irideus (rainbow trout) rainbow1779 hardhead1792 mountain trout1805 brook trout1869 silver trout1873 rainbow trout1881 steel-head1882 1779 U.S. Mag. Feb. 85 The rainbow cuts the deep of varied green. 1897 Daily News 30 Aug. 2/4 The fish included a number of Rainbows, a species of trout not hitherto introduced to the river. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 13 Feb. 16/2 If there is a river in which rainbows should grow large and wax fat it is the Thames. 1940 R. Pertwee Master of None v. 27 I caught a sizeable rainbow with it [sc. a rod] last season. 1993 Outdoor Canada May 27/1 This wasn't exactly a normal weekend of rainbow fishing—we'd been tying into one monster trout after another. b. Any of several South American hummingbirds of the genus Coeligena; spec. (more fully Andean rainbow) = rainbow starfrontlet n. at Compounds 3. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Apodiformes > [noun] > family Trochilidae (humming-bird) > unspecified and miscellaneous types of zumbador1758 sunbeam1769 black warrior1831 hermit-bird1837 Anna's hummingbird1839 jacobin1843 straight-tail1843 vervain hummingbird1847 wedge-bill1848 fiery topaz1854 sungem1856 wood-star1859 calliope1861 rainbow1861 sabre-wing1861 sawbill1861 swallowtail1861 sword-bill1861 thorn-bill1861 visor-bearer1861 warrior1861 wood-nymph1861 puffleg1869 calliope hummingbird1872 flame-bearer1882 shear-tail1885 plature1890 rainbow starfrontlet1966 1861 J. Gould Monogr. Trochilidæ IV. Pl. 247 Diphlogena iris..Rainbow. 1861 J. Gould Monogr. Trochilidæ IV. Pl. 248 Diphlogena aurora..Bolivian Rainbow. 1958 E. T. Gilliard Living Birds of World 223/1 The Andean rainbow (Coeligena iris) is nearly six inches long and has a generally greenish body. 1988 Amer. Hist. Rev. 93 1001 Like the pachacuti, Andean rainbows could carry a negative as well as a positive meaning. 5. North American Sport (originally Baseball). A throw, shot, etc., having a high arcing trajectory. Frequently attributive. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > motion of ball > types of ball by motion grounder1849 daisy-cutter1889 rainbow1891 poached egg1893 screamer1896 scorcher1900 swerver1902 slam1931 thunderbolt1959 1891 Boston Daily Globe 25 May 2/6 Bennett is catching as well as ever, but his rainbow throwing to second is not heading off the men. 1927 M. Charnley Secrets of Baseball iv. 49 His throws were high ‘rainbows’ that seemed to take forever to get where they were going. 1974 Washington Post 12 May d1/3 His 15-foot rainbow jumper over Jabbar sifted through the net. 1995 Sport Oct. 20 Laces rolling over and over, the rainbow pass from Warren Moon is snared out of the sky. 2004 Barrie (Ont.) Examiner (Nexis) 10 Nov. b1 The Vikings slowly extended their lead,..with tough layups and rainbows from outside. 6. British. Usually with capital initial. Also in full Rainbow Guide. A member of the most junior division of the Guides Association (for girls from 5 to 7 years of age). ΚΠ 1988 Guiding Mar. 13/1 The following interim guide-lines for Rainbow Guides have been approved by the Executive Committee. 1988 Guiding Sept. 21/4 Get the Rainbows to print designs on coloured paper. 1999 Scouting Mag. Nov. 24/2 It went very well with a positive response from the Guides, Brownies and Rainbows. 2005 Brownie Feb. 31/2 I was a Rainbow and a Brownie. I loved seeing all my friends at the meetings and playing all the outdoor games. Phrases P1. all the colours of the rainbow and variants. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > variegation > [noun] > rainbow colours all the colours of the rainbow1562 1562 G. Legh Accedens of Armory f. 171 A flower de luse Sable. Althoughe thys be of Coloure Sable, yet naturally it hath all ye colours of a Raine bowe. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 167 He changeth..like the Chamæleon, to al colours of the Rainebowe. 1602 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor iv. v. 108 I haue bene beaten all the colours in the Rainbow. c1645 W. Atkins Relation of Journey (1994) 228 Our constant diet was bread... It had in it more coloures than the raynebow. 1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. xliv. 311 Mistinesses of all the colours in the rainbow twinkling upon my deluged eye. 1834 J. W. Croker Let. 10 June in Croker Papers (1884) II. 226 The women dressed in all the colours of the rainbow. 1933 E. A. Powell Slanting Lines of Steel xviii. 280 Those long, thin craft, streaked and striped and ringed and dappled with half the colors of the rainbow. 1991 P. O'Brian Nutmeg of Consol. (1993) ix. 259 They have seen all the colours of the rainbow, they do not have to top it the nob. P2. With reference to the idea of trying to reach the rainbow. a. As the type of a useless quest, esp. in to chase rainbows; cf. rainbow chase n. at Compounds 3. ΚΠ c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 2466 (MED) Roomes noȝt at þe raybowe [a1500 Trin. Dub. rayne-bowe] þat reche ȝe ne may. 1796 Origin Duty & Right in Man, Considered 94 He who would be at the labour of searching for absolute perfection..would resemble the simple boy who chased the rainbow. 1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain ii. iii. 57 As wildered children leave their home, After the rainbow's arch to roam. 1895 E. C. Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable (rev. ed.) 1036/2 Rainbow chasers, problematical politicians and reformers, who chase rainbows, which cannot possibly be caught, to ‘find the pot of gold at the foot thereof’. 1936 A. Russell Gone Nomad i. 7 In chasing my rainbow I have..delved for gold; ‘gouged’ for opal; fossicked for diamonds. 1988 Soccer Special Aug. 20/5 So far the man who..went on to chase rainbows at Luton Town and Tottenham has satisfied the more immediate demands. b. As a quest for the treasure supposed to lie where the rainbow appears to touch the ground, esp. in the end of the rainbow, the foot of the rainbow, the rainbow's end. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > motivation > attraction, allurement, or enticement > [noun] > one who or that which > that which lurec1385 baitc1400 traina1425 allective1445 allurement1548 lodestone?1577 attractive1581 invites1615 magnetic1645 magnet1655 invitatory1666 track1672 glittering prize1713 catch1781 the rainbow's end1846 carrot1895 come-on1902 1803 Lit. Mag. & Amer. Reg. Dec. 237/2 An unlucky passion for celebrity, made him run continually in quest of it, as the peasant-boy runs to find the treasure at the end of the rainbow. 1836 W. D. Cooper Gloss. Provinc. Sussex 16 Go to the end of the rainbow, and you'll find a crock of money. 1846 G. W. Henry Incidents in Life of George W. Henry v. 67 Running after the riches of this world for the purpose of happiness, is like a child seeking for pretty things at the rainbow's end, which seems to be just in the adjoining field. 1882 Cent. Mag. Nov. 62/2 Lane and some of his men, like boys seeking the pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow, set out to immortalize and enrich themselves by ascending the Roanoke to find the Pacific Ocean. 1935 ‘J. Guthrie’ Little Country xxi. 312 You shouldered your swag and left to seek the foot of another rainbow. 1940 Railroad Mag. Apr. 47/1 Indian Valley road , an imaginary railroad ‘at the end of the rainbow,’ on which you could always find a good job and ideal working conditions. 1971 A. Diment Think Inc. ii. 21 Every wornout hack of an agent retires there... It's the end of the rainbow for every British spy. 2005 MX News 21 Mar. 17/1 The pot of gold at the end of the DVD rainbow. Compounds C1. General attributive. a. In the sense ‘relating or belonging to a rainbow’, or ‘resembling a rainbow’ (i.e. in having the shape of an arch, or many or varying colours). rainbow colour n. ΚΠ 1637 T. Heywood Londini Speculum sig. B 4^v Dance in thy raine-bow colours..change Thy selfe to thousand figures. 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Iris A peculiar species of spring crystal, remarkable for its giving the rainbow colours in reflection. 1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus ii. ii. 35/1 Among the rainbow colours that glowed on my horizon, lay even in childhood a dark ring of Care. 1997 C. B. Divakaruni Mistress of Spices 48 They wear jangly bangles in rainbow colours and earrings that swing against the smooth sides of their necks. rainbow crown n. ΚΠ 1810 R. Southey Curse of Kehama xi. 117 A cataract..Hung with many a rainbow crown. 1881 T. C. Irwin Sonnets on Poetry & Probl. Life 11 April, with rainbow crown, blue-eyed and slight. 2004 Daily News (New York) (Nexis) 19 July (Business section) 46 Sarah Druck, a 27-year-old bride-to-be, shopped in a rainbow crown made from pipe cleaners. rainbow curve n. ΚΠ 1775 W. Cockin Art Written Lang. 114 In a horse..a fine rainbow curve of the neck is allowed to be as expressive of fire as it is necessary to beauty. 1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It lxxiv. 536 From these holes branched numberless bright torrents in many directions, like the spokes of a wheel, and kept a tolerably straight course for a while and then swept round in huge rainbow curves. 1985 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 25 Aug. x. 9/1 The road bends in a long rainbow curve around two of Frank Lloyd Wright's most remarkable buildings. rainbow dye n. ΚΠ 1726 J. Hervey Monimia to Philocles 7 So in a Prism to the cheated Eye, Each pictur'd triffle takes a Rainbow dye. 1860 C. Langster Hesperus 53 Queenly beauty diademed with rainbow dyes. 1984 Washington Post (Nexis) 26 Mar. (Metro section) b3 She and Nicole would wear their rainbow dyes to a party that night at the Crofton Country Club. rainbow hue n. ΚΠ 1587 M. Grove Most Famous Hist. Pelops & Hippodamia sig. B^v They mark the diuers colours that in waste doe flee therehence, The raynbow hue, to deeme thereby of Gods the high pretence. a1779 T. Lyttelton Poems (1780) 19 At thy approach, each pearl of orient dew, Is purpled over with a rainbow hue. 1816 P. B. Shelley Alastor 23 The beams of sunset hung their rainbow hues [etc.]. 1991 Gardener Jan. 22/2 Suttons supply F1 ‘Non-Stop Mixture’, tuberous-rooted with 2″ (5cm) double blues in rainbow hues, for bedding or windowsill display. rainbow light n. ΚΠ 1771 J. Trotter Faith Triumphant 7 I yet see a stream of that inexpressibly beautiful rainbow-light which attended another, who is disappeared. 1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 218 It was a lake of rainbow light, in which, for a short while, I lived like a dolphin. 1987 D. Ywahoo Voices of Ancestors vi. 212 Sense the seven stars above your head, their rainbow light cascading down around you. rainbow path n. ΚΠ 1738 S. Johnson Vision Heaven 54 The shining Walks, and Rainbow paths [of heaven]. 1811 R. Heber tr. Pindar in Q. Rev. May 456 To walk the rainbow paths of heaven. 1994 Guardian 20 Oct. (OnLine section) 3/1 People are leaning towards a more self-empowering approach to the unknown, drawing on many sources and bringing them together to create their own trip, an approach which has come to be known as the ‘rainbow path’! rainbow-pinion n. chiefly poetic (now rare) ΚΠ 1820 Amer. Watchman (Wilmington, Delaware) 22 Mar. 2/4 Love's rainbow-pinion shone. 1845 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 2) 215 Rainbow-pinions coloured like yon cloud. 1915 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 28 Dec. 3/1 Joy on rainbow pinions wing to me. 1935 G. D. Gribble tr. I. Seidel Wish Child 249 It seemed as if it would suddenly rise rustling, unfold its rainbow pinions, and wing its way to heaven through the riven roof. rainbow shower n. ΚΠ 1760 J. Delap Elelgies 8 They..Sport in the gale, or sip the rainbow shower. 1895 L. A. Lefevre Lion's Gate 57 A rainbow shower of golden stars Breaks into glory there! 2006 London (Ont.) Free Press (Nexis) 14 Oct. a15 If Bob gets under too much pressure, he'll just explode in a rainbow shower of Danish blocks. rainbow silk n. ΚΠ 1787 H. S. Conway in Prol. & Epil. to Play of Way to keep Him 2 No Rainbow Silks then flaunted in the wind. 1852 Times 4 Mar. 5/2 The Queen wore a train of white watered rainbow silk. 2001 Independent (Nexis) 11 Oct. Narrow jackets with collars made out of twisted ropes of rainbow silk. rainbow sister n. ΚΠ 1818 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto IV lxi. 33 Where Sculpture with her rainbow sister vies. 1926 W. Thompson Rainbow Countries Central Amer. vi. 110 The azure of the spectrum of Central America comes, at last, in the riches and the beauty of the lovely eldest of the five rainbow sisters. 1998 H. Jaskoski Leslie Marmon Silko i. 27 The lyrics..echo the form of English translations of many Navajo sacred songs..in imagery of earth mother and sky father, rainbow sister and wind brother. rainbow space n. ΚΠ 1918 E. Sitwell Clowns' Houses 14 A glassy ball that clowns have hurled Through the rainbow-space of laughter. 1992 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 25 Jan. (Food section) d7 Each food group getting its own band of color, and taking up an equivalent amount of rainbow space to the proportion it should show up in our diets. rainbow tint n. ΚΠ 1777 E. Ryan Reliques of Genius 24 The gay delusion fades; its rainbow-tints In empty air evanish. 1882 Harper's Mag. Nov. 848/1 Here are rainbow tints of nacre borrowed from the mother of no earthly pearl. 2005 Boston Globe (Nexis) 21 Dec. (Food section) e1 Pastry brushes in rainbow tints will fill cooks' stockings everywhere. rainbow vapour n. ΚΠ 1840 R. Browning Sordello ii, in Wks. (1896) I. 128/2 Whose shape divine, Quivered i'the farthest rainbow-vapour. 1930 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 24 Nov. 17/1 The Superoptimists live in a land of steam heat, rainbow vapors, lingering perfumes, [etc.]. 2003 Boston Herald (Nexis) 3 Oct. (The Edge section) e28 These rainbow vapors, however, represent ‘Minuteman Missile Being Tested Over the Skies of Los Angeles’. b. In extended and figurative senses, as rainbow-hint, rainbow-presence, rainbow promise, etc. ΚΠ 1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love iii. iv. sig. F2 So painted, pyed, and full of Raine-bow straines. View more context for this quotation 1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 334 [The Jesuits'] religious pietie in shew, is but a rainebow cloude, of atheall policie in action, drawne vp in vaporous dewes of cold congealed deuotions. a1806 H. K. White Remains (1807) II. 151 There's not a wind that blows but bears with it Some rainbow promise. a1835 F. D. Hemans To New-born in Wks. (1839) VI. 195 A rainbow-welcome thine hath been, of mingled smiles and tears. a1835 F. D. Hemans Genius Singing to Love in Poet. Wks. (1836) 214/1 The light thy rainbow-presence throws Over the poet's dream. 1841 R. W. Emerson Ess. 1st Ser. (Boston ed.) v. 148 Beauty..resembles the most excellent things, which all have this rainbow character, defying all attempts at appropriation and use. 1861 C. Dickens Let. 17 Nov. (1997) IX. 508 Precious to me as a rainbow-hint of your friendship. 1909 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Avonlea xxvi. 304 She had come at last..to the bend in the road; and college was around it, with a hundred rainbow hopes and visions. a1930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 17 Venus..is the female tunny-fish, round and happy among the males And dense with happy blood, dark rainbow bliss in the sea. 1953 L. P. Hartley Go-between (1958) vii. 77 I was crossing the rainbow bridge from reality to dream. 1974 D. Niatum Ascending Red Cedar Moon 5 Time formed itself from rimes of the Elwah, Rainbow river of my ancestors. c. Characterized by racial or ethnic diversity; interracial, multiracial, or multicultural. Cf. rainbow coalition n., rainbow nation n. at Compounds 3. ΚΠ 1976 Dyke Fall 3/2 Here are a few of the themes we are going to have: Poster, Sports, Animals, Health, Black/Ethnic/Rainbow Dykes. 1984 Newsweek (Nexis) 19 Nov. 120 Interracial children—‘rainbow children’ in today's socio jargon—experience many of the same difficulties as single-race minorities. 1992 Caribbean Week Apr. 7/2 Those who have steadfastly worked for the evolution of a ‘rainbow’ culture in Trinidad and Tobago. 1996 Sci. Amer. Feb. 11/2 The weight of numbers could create a rainbow majority that would change the face of American politics. 1999 M. P. Beals White is State of Mind (2000) xxvi. 307 Wearing long hair was my reflection of our family's Indian heritage—the pride of our rainbow mixture. 2000 M. A. O. Maxwell in N. Hopkinson Whispers from Cotton Tree Root 304 Indian and Chinese, African and dougla, all the mixed peoples of the rainbow Caribbean. C2. In instrumental, parasynthetic, and similative uses. rainbow-coloured adj. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > variegation > [adjective] > as rainbow rainbow-coloured1593 rainbowed1786 rainbowy1800 irised1816 iridal1837 iridical1862 iridian1884 1593 M. Drayton Idea i. i The crawling snake, against the morning sunne, Now streaks him in his rayn-bow coloured cote. 1675 R. Flecknoe Treat. Sports of Wit 19 This work at first, which now these hands have wrought So Rainbow colour'd, as Thomantias Bow Cou'd never more Celestial colour show. a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo vi, in Wks. (1721) III. 191 A loose trailing Rainbow colour'd Vest. 1835 W. Wordsworth Yarrow Revisited 25 Glens whose walls, Rock-built, are hung with rainbow-coloured mists. 1861 G. A. Spottiswoode in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1860 82 Clouds of rainbow-coloured spray. 1990 A. L. Kennedy Night Geom. & Garscadden Trains 32 We finished with all of our washing, started to sleep at night and I managed to get the dryer to chew up six pairs of rainbow coloured knickers. rainbow-edged adj. ΚΠ 1840 R. Browning Sordello i, in Wks. (1896) I. 124/1 Lucid dew-drops rainbow-edged. 1955 Chron.-Express (Penn Yann, N.Y.) 19 May 2/8 The remarkable steely-centered, rainbow-edged circle that was around the blazing sun. 2006 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Jrnl. Sentinel (Nexis) 8 Oct. j4 Giving the lovable lesbians down the block a rainbow-edged license can't dent your arrow-straight love for your husband. rainbow-gay adj. ΚΠ 1711 J. P. tr. Lucian Wks. III. 192 Within the Chambers of the Sea, With Mother of pearl so Rainbow-gay. 1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 69 O rainbow-gay the red pools lay that swilled and spilled and spread. 1965 Winnipeg Free Press 14 Apr. 63 (advt.) Fluffy, heavily looped, terry cotton in a rainbow-gay choice of colours. † rainbow-girded adj. Obsolete ΚΠ ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads ii. 699 To Troy the rainbow-girded Dame right heavy news relates. 1799 Ann. Anthol. 1 7 The tears of twilight on the isle to gleam, Or rainbow-girded showers To kiss the flowery shore. rainbow-happy adj. ΚΠ 1940 E. Blunden Poems 1930–40 190 How comes the rainbow-happy shower! 1955 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 24 May 23/1 Wholesale furriers have gone rainbow-happy in fur dyes. rainbow-hued adj. ΚΠ 1801 R. Southey Thalaba II. vi. 23 Where'er his eye could reach Fair structures, rain bow-hued, arose. 1905 Burlington Mag. Nov. 100/2 He is..not yet the Watteau of a rainbow-hued yet mute and melancholy dreamland, whom we moderns love. 2007 Tri-City Herald (Washington) (Nexis) 19 May (Life section) c1 Drop by the show and you'll be sure to find plenty of rainbow-hued roses. † rainbow-large adj. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1818 J. Keats Endymion i. 39 My higher hope Is of too wide, too rainbow-large a scope. rainbow-painted adj. ΚΠ 1750 Warton Ode vii, in Poet. Wks. (1802) I. 159 Through the sunshine and the shower, Descry the rainbow-painted tower. 1885 E. Douglas Queen of Hid Isle iii. i. 63 Rainbow-painted sails of royal moths. 1980 Brit. Jrnl. Philos. Sci. 31 54 He possesses a rainbow-painted car. rainbow-sided adj. ΚΠ 1818 J. Keats Endymion ii. 58 Fish, Golden, or rainbow-sided. 1820 J. Keats Lamia i, in Lamia & Other Poems 6 So rainbow-sided, touch'd with miseries, She [sc. a snake] seem'd, at once, some penanced lady elf. 1998 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) (Nexis) 6 Sept. (Sunday Mag.) 8 The rainbow-sided steelhead trout spawn in the Grand in the fall, winter and early spring. rainbow-skirted adj. ΚΠ 1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iii. iii. 108 With rainbow-skirted showers, and odorous winds. 1840 H. H. Milman Poet. Wks. II. xi. 252 Rainbow-skirted hangs each fold. 1989 Independent (Nexis) 22 Sept. 5 Studious-looking and nearly elderly women easily outnumber rainbow-skirted eco-warriors. rainbow-sparkling adj. ΚΠ 1630 W. Drummond Flowres of Sion (rev. ed.) 47 The..Raine-bow-sparkling Arch of Diamond cleare, Which crownes the azure of each vnder Spheare. 1961 J. L. Rosenberg tr. M. Frisch Chinese Wall 118 Remembrance of the rainbow-sparkling sea. 2006 Denver Post (Nexis) 24 Dec. e4 A fitful wind kicked up sprays of rainbow-sparkling white snow. rainbow-sweet adj. rare ΚΠ 1942 L. Hughes Shakespeare in Harlem 20 So if you want to know beauty's Rainbow-sweet thrill, Stroll down luscious, Delicious, fine Sugar Hill. rainbow-tailed adj. ΚΠ 1929 Oxf. Poetry 32 Conjure..rich waterlilies lightly to be embraced by rainbowtailed delirious dragonflies. 1985 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 19 Nov. c9/1 The rainbow-maned, rainbow-tailed steed carries her over the rainbow path. 2005 Seattle Times (Nexis) 29 Nov. e1 Rainbow-tailed peacocks and dancing Chinese tigers. rainbow-tinted adj. ΚΠ 1765 E. Stephens Birth-day 29 Godess, come! And with thee bring Mirth on rainbow-tinted Wing. 1827 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey IV. vi. vi. 196 The sun..lent additional brilliancy to the rainbow-tinted birds of paradise. 2000 Eng. Jrnl. 90 117/1 They want to get to the colored fonts, the fancy graphics, and the rainbow-tinted printer paper. rainbow-winged adj. ΚΠ 1819 C. Lloyd Nugæ Canoræ (ed. 3) xxxii. 207 Circled by Fancy's rainbow-winged swarm That live but in the sunbeam of her sight. 1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound ii. iv. 88 I see cars drawn by rainbow-winged steeds. 1902 J. B. Stephens Poet. Wks. 396 The rainbow-winged messengers floating in heaven. 2003 Newsday (N.Y.) (Nexis) 12 Jan. d20 All those ravishing Madonnas, glitter-browed saints and rainbow-winged angels possess a visual splendor that is alien to Jewish tradition. C3. rainbow agate n. [apparently after German Regenbogenachat (1808 or earlier)] an iridescent variety of agate. ΚΠ 1825 R. T. Gore tr. J. F. Blumenbach Man. Elements Nat. Hist. 309 Rainbow-agate viewed in transmitted light presents a play of variegated colours. 1942 Rocks & Minerals July 239/1 Montana scenic Rainbow Agate is not common. 2004 W. D. Hausel Guide Prospecting & Rock Hunting Wyoming 9 Varieties of banded agate include Rainbow agate, which diffracts light into a rainbow spectrum of colors when thinly sliced. rainbow baby n. (a) a child from an interracial, multicultural, or same-sex relationship (see Compounds 1c); (b) a baby born subsequent to a miscarriage, still-birth, or the death of an infant from natural causes (now the usual sense). ΚΠ 1972 Tucson (Arizona) Daily Citizen 2 June 21/1 Her class has nicknamed Nathan ‘the rainbow baby’ because he is one-quarter each Navajo, Pima, Mexican and black. 1994 Essence May 80/1 Friends of mine, who are also rainbow babies pushing..30-something, have had similar run-ins with Whites. 2008 in C. Brooks Our Heartbreaking Choices x. I have since gone on to have a healthy baby... She is my ‘rainbow baby’. Through the clouds and the rain she came and brought light and colour back into my life. 2008 www.mumsnet.com 13 Aug. (forum post, accessed 23 June 2017) Its [sc. insemination using a turkey baster] a method lesbians have been using for years with alot of rainbow babies to show for it. 2013 in K. M. Larsen Because they Lived 158 [We] found ourselves expecting my Rainbow baby. Vaughn was born two years and one week..after Michael's stillbirth. 2016 MailOnline (Nexis) 22 Nov. After five miscarriages I had my rainbow baby two months ago. rainbow bee-eater n. a migratory bee-eater, Merops ornatus, which has multicoloured plumage and a black eyestripe, and breeds chiefly in Australia. ΚΠ 1958 E. T. Gilliard Living Birds of World 246/2 In Australia is found the Red-eyed Rainbow Bee-eater (M. ornatus), which is chiefly yellowish green washed with pale blue on the lower back and cheeks. 2004 Biol. Conservation 120 55/1 Rainbow bee-eaters are aerial insectivores, and rarely come to the ground other than to breed. rainbow bird n. Australian = rainbow bee-eater n. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Coraciiformes (kingfisher, etc.) > [noun] > family Meropidae > unspecified and miscellaneous types firebird1892 rainbow bird1911 1911 J. A. Leach Austral. Bird Bk. 107 Rainbow-bird, Aust. Bee-eater,..Spinetail, Pintail, Merops ornatus. 1980 R. Ansell & R. Percy To Fight Wild 75 Swooping over the plain, bee-eaters or rainbow birds: very pretty little birds, green, pale blue and golden bronze, with a distinctive call. 2002 Sunday Tasmanian (Nexis) 14 July t24 Dalhousie is home to 150 bird species, from fairy martins to rainbow birds. rainbow boa n. a large constricting snake, Epicrates cenchria (family Boidae), typically orange-brown with slight iridescence and dark ring-like markings, occurring in Central and South American forests. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Boidae (boas) > types of epicrates > epicrates cenchris (rainbow boa) ringed boa1802 rainbow boa1910 1910 R. L. Ditmars Reptiles of World iv. 231 The Rainbow Boa..derives its name from a gorgeous iridescence playing over the scales of a healthy example. 1958 J. Carew Black Midas vi. 119 On our way back I saw a rainbow boa coiled around a branch. 1998 S. Orlean Orchid Thief 185 They arrested a man..whose suitcase was packed with forty-seven rainbow boas, eleven redtail boas..and twelve pit vipers. rainbow cactus n. each of three small cylindrical cacti of south-western North America, Echinocereus pectinatus, E. rigidissimus, and E. dasyacanthus, which have red, pink, or yellow flowers and alternating rows of pinkish and grey-white spines creating a banded appearance. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cactus and allies > [noun] > other cacti hedgehog thistle1597 Opuntia1601 mescal1709 Barbados gooseberry1756 night-flowering cereus1789 vygebosch1795 night-blooming cereus1799 rhipsalis1819 pigface1830 window plant1838 old man cactus1845 cholla1846 fish-hook cactus1846 spleenwort1846 epiphyllum1858 old man's head1858 rainbow cactus1860 green snake1864 torchwood1866 queen of the night1870 vingerpol1875 nipple cactus1876 niggerhead1877 rat's tail cactus1878 rat-tail cactus1878 Christmas cactus1880 barrel cactus1881 peyote1885 mistletoe cactus1889 schlumbergera1898 pincushion1940 opuntioid1944 1860 Dawson's Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily Times 2 June 2/1 The Exhibition of the Allen County Horticultural Society... F. P. Randall—Rainbow Cactus. 1948 Amer. Midl. Naturalist 40 531 Rainbow cactus, Echinocereus dasyacanthus, with huge orange-yellow blossoms that open fullest the second day. 1991 Plant Systematics & Evol. 178 107 Numerous artificial crosses between the putative parents E. coccineus..and E. dasyacanthus Engelm. (Texas Rainbow Cactus) were successful. † rainbow chalcedony n. Obsolete rare an iridescent variety of chalcedony.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries. ΚΠ 1865 D. Page Handbk. Geol. Terms (ed. 2) 382 Rainbow Chalcedony, a variety of chalcedony consisting of thin concentric layers, which when cut across exhibit an iridescence resembling the colours of the rainbow. rainbow chase n. figurative a quest which is pointless because its object is illusory. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [noun] > a profitless undertaking wild-goose race1594 wild goose chase1597 fool's erranda1629 job1680 water haul1823 rainbow chase1840 Sisyphism1846 blind alley1854 fool's gold1870 mug's game1900 Saltash luck1914 dead end1922 boondoggle1947 1840 Knickerbocker Dec. 543 (title) The Rainbow Chase. c1843 C. Brontë Poems (1984) 253 I Now had only to retrace The long and lonely road So lately in the rainbow chase With fearless ardour trod. 1886 St. James's Gaz. 2 June 10 A fact which had led Mr. Rylands off a rainbow-chase after a visionary Chancellorship. 2003 Scotsman (Nexis) 4 July 28 The next phase of the sector's rainbow chase is now definitely consolidation to ease the pain. rainbow-chaser n. figurative a person who undertakes a rainbow chase. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [noun] > a profitless undertaking > one who rainbow-chaser1888 1888 N. Amer. Rev. Dec. 693 The roseate imagination of one of the Democratic managers has supplied our political slang with the suggestive epithet of ‘rainbow chaser’. 1925 D. Senior Rainbow Chasers iii. 33 ‘We are all Rainbow-Chasers in youth,’ I retorted. ‘And even in old age the hope of finding the Crock of Gold is hard to kill.’ 1999 J. Raban Passage to Juneau iii. 118 I was Oedipus, not Telemachus—an escapee, a new-lifer, a rainbow-chaser. rainbow-chasing n. figurative the action of undertaking a rainbow chase. ΚΠ 1890 San Antonio (Texas) Daily Express 2 Mar. 9/3 Mr. Cleveland had never been accused of rainbow chasing. 1918 H. Trench Napoleon i. i. 6 How should he deal with Napoleon? As well try to ride a comet. No; it's some rainbow-chasing! 2002 Guardian (Nexis) 14 Dec. (Guide Suppl.) 4 So in the end where does all this rainbow chasing lead us? rainbow coalition n. originally U.S. Politics an alliance of different political groups or parties working together to achieve a particular objective; esp. (in the United States) a collection of minority political and ethnic groups formed by Revd Jesse Jackson in 1983; also in extended use. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > politics > [noun] > forming of groups of parties or powers > a grouping of parties or powers coalition1715 coalescence1764 rainbow coalition1932 1932 Washington Post 2 Oct. 7/6 It was not until the Democratic high command abandoned all hope of explaining away the Democratic record in the last session of Congress that Gov. Roosevelt turned to the West and the formation of the Rainbow Coalition. 1969 N.Y. Times 13 Oct. 90/3 Collectively they were referred to as the ‘Rainbow Coalition’ of black power, brown power, and white power. 1983 N.Y. Times 14 Nov. 18/5 Unity among the white poor, minorities and women will create a ‘Rainbow Coalition’ that can have a significant impact on our process of government. 1986 Today 6 May 16/7 The Alliance's best chance of something spectacular is in Liverpool where they hope to gain minority control by forming a ‘rainbow’ coalition with Labour opponents of council deputy leader Derek Hatton. 2006 Los Angeles Times 29 Apr. a10/4 In Chicago, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of his Rainbow Coalition have pledged to participate. rainbow crystal n. an iridescent variety of rock crystal. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > rock crystal > [noun] > varieties of rainbow-stone1587 Bristol-diamond1596 Bristol1618 Bristol-stone1646 Bristol-gem1706 rainbow crystal1748 cairngorm1794 rhinestone1871 iris1874 the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > tectosilicate > [noun] > quartz > crystalline quartzes > rock crystal crystalOE irisa1387 crystalline1539 rainbow-stone1587 Cornish diamond1591 diamond1591 mountain crystal1598 rock crystal1598 pebble1688 Cornish stone1695 Welsh diamond1705 rainbow crystal1748 quartz crystal1770 Irish diamond1774 1748 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. I. 179 The Iris, or Rain-bow Crystal of authors. 1962 Times 29 Oct. 13/3 (caption) The necklace, designed in Paris for Adrian Mann, of gold and shimmering rainbow crystals, is at Dickens & Jones in London. 1989 S. Holbeche Power Gems & Crystals ii. 26 The Aboriginals still use crystals for medicine... They particularly value the Rainbow crystals containing colour prisms because these hold the energy of the Rainbow Serpent. rainbow darter n. a small North American freshwater fish, Etheostoma caeruleum (family Percidae), the male of which is orange-red with dark blue vertical bars.In quot. 1876 apparently: a collective name for fishes of the former genus Poecilichthys. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Percidae (perches) > [noun] > member of subfamily Etheostominae darter1842 Johnny1875 rainbow darter1876 1876 D. S. Jordan Man. Vertebr. Northern U.S. 219 (heading) Pœcilichthys, Agassiz. Rainbow Darters. 1882 D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert Synopsis Fishes N. Amer. 517 P. cæruleus... Rainbow Darter... Males olivaceous..; sides with 12 indigo-blue bars. 1903 T. H. Bean Fishes N.Y. 518 The blue darter, blue Johnny, rainbow darter, or soldier fish, is found in the Ohio valley and in some parts of the Mississippi valley. 1991 L. M. Page & B. M. Burr Field Guide Freshwater Fishes 315 Rainbow Darter..is deepest under middle of 1st dorsal fin; has unscaled cheek and breast, red in anal fin of male. rainbow flag n. a flag upon which there is a representation of a rainbow, or a pattern of stripes regarded as reminiscent of a rainbow, spec. (a) the flag of the United States; (b) a flag used to represent international peace and unity; (c) a flag used to symbolize gay pride. ΚΠ 1818 J. Neal Battle of Niagara iv. 81 The rainbow flag is there, with sheeted flow, And they with silent tread, and cool determined brow. 1838 G. P. Morris Deserted Bride 29 Hail with pride and loud hurrahs, Streaming from a thousand spars, Freedom's rainbow-flag of stars! Symbol of our land! 1909 Washington Post 25 Sept. 4/4 The twin rainbow flags of peace will be unfurled from the roof of a downtown skyscraper by two little girls. 1947 N.Y. Times 7 Aug. 2/6 On the second anniversary of the bomb attack on Hiroshima..a large wooden cross, a rainbow flag of all nations and a Hebrew banner were raised. 1988 R. Shilts Band played On ii. ii. 14 Gay cowboys from the Reno Gay Rodeo pranced their horses down Market Street, waving the flags of Nevada and California, as well as the rainbow flag that had become the standard of California gays. 2002 N.Y. Mag. 29 Apr. 29 Gay people in New York eschew the constant need to be gay. Difficult carrying that rainbow flag when you're just trying to make rent. rainbow flower n. (a) an iris (the plant; cf. iris n. 5) (rare); (b) a many-coloured flower (poetic). ΚΠ 1773 J. Hill Veg. Syst. XXIII. 20 The Iris, or Rainbow Flower. 1816 P. B. Shelley Alastor 41 Nurses of rainbow flowers and branching moss. 1928 E. Blunden Retreat 67 What angel dropped her rainbow-flowers In that horizon blue of ours? 1965 Modesto (California) Bee 17 May a3/4 The iris, sometimes referred to the rainbow flower, is available in every color except scarlet and green. rainbow lorikeet n. a small, vividly coloured Australasian parrot, Trichoglossus haematodus, occurring in many different races on islands in the south-west Pacific. ΚΠ 1924 C. E. Lord & H. H. Scott Synopsis Vertebr. Animals Tasmania 187 The Rainbow Lorikeet, like most of the brush-tongued parrots, is to be met with usually in flocks. 1958 E. T. Gilliard Living Birds of World 201/1 Sometimes they occur in bands of thousands, as, for example, does the Rainbow lorikeet. 2001 R. Wittenberg & M. J. W. Cock Invasive Alien Species iii. 97 The rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus) is a brightly coloured gregarious parrot, native to parts of Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea and east to New Caledonia. rainbow lory n. = rainbow lorikeet n. ΚΠ 1911 J. A. Leach Austral. Bird Bk. 88 Blue Mountain Lorikeet..Rainbow Lory..Trichoglossus novae-hollandiae. 1984 Condor 86 126/1 Of the 30 visits by other birds, four were by larger birds, the Rainbow Lory (Trichoglossus haematodus..) and Superb Bird of Paradise. 2004 M. Warden Lory Owner's Survival Guide i. 21 The most distinctive trait about this particular rainbow lory is the red breast feathers with dark blue edging. rainbow nation n. (also with capital initials) a multiracial or multicultural nation; spec. South Africa in the post-apartheid era. ΚΠ 1992 Chicago Tribune 16 Feb. iv. 3/4 I find the idea of a multicultural or ‘rainbow’ nation unconvincing. 1994 N. Mandela in Chicago Tribune 10 May 1 We shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall,..assured of their inalienable right to human dignity—a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world. 2001 Telewest Cable Guide Jan. 25/1 This month finds your gregarious gourmand in the rainbow nation of South Africa. 2014 K. L. Seegers tr. D. Meyer Cobra (2015) lx. 358 ‘We are the South African Police Service’,..‘And what a splendid representation of the Rainbow Nation you are.’ rainbow pitta n. a pitta, Pitta iris, which has a mainly green back and a black head and breast and is endemic to parts of tropical northern Australia. ΚΠ 1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. IV. Pl. 3 The Rainbow Pitta differs..from all other known species of this lovely tribe of birds. 1928 W. Robertson Coo-ee Talks 36 The Rainbow Pitta..inhabits the dense bamboo-jungles near the coast. 2013 I. Campbell & S. Woods Wildlife Austral. 164 Rainbow Pitta also boasts glistening blue wing patches that glow brilliantly from the understory or flash vividly in flight, and its striking crimson undertail can also create a stir. † rainbow rash n. Medicine Obsolete a skin disease characterized by the presence of vesicles surrounded by concentric rings in various shades of red; (perhaps) erythema multiforme. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > tetter tettera700 rainbow rash1806 rainbow worm1817 1806 Edinb. Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 2 57/1 Urticaria (nettle-rash.)..Iris (rainbow-rash.) 1822 J. M. Good Study Med. IV. 612 The rainbow worm or tetter..was by Dr. Willan at first mistaken for an exanthem,..on which account, in the first edition of his Table of Classification, he called it a rainbow rash. 1901 tr. F. E. Bilz Nat. Method Healing I. 625 The so called rainbow rash is also a species of herpes. It generally makes its appearance in the spring and autumn. rainbow runner n. an elongated carangid fish, Elegatis bipinnulata, which has a bluish-green back and blue and yellow lengthwise stripes, found in warm seas worldwide and popular as a game fish. ΚΠ 1937 L. A. Walford Marine Game Fishes 65 As a game fish the rainbow runner ranks with the California yellowtail, and takes the same lures. 1991 Times 27 July (Sat. Review) 36/4 We dined on exotica such as rainbow-runners. 2004 D. Dalton Rough Guide Philippines 298 Fish Bowl..takes you on a blue-water descent to the top of a reef where whitetip reef sharks, sweetlips and rainbow runners are common. rainbow serpent n. (in Australian Aboriginal mythology) a large snake associated with water. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > mythical types of serpent (miscellaneous) siren1340 dipsas1382 haemorrhoida1398 prestera1398 bloodworm1587 viper1602 dryine1605 dipsad1608 lindworm1814 lingworm1870 rainbow serpent1926 the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > [noun] > member of (snake) > mythological cockatricea1382 henatrice1840 rainbow serpent1926 1926 A. R. Radcliffe-Brown in Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 56 19 There is found in widely separated parts of Australia a belief in a huge serpent which lives in certain pools or water-holes. This serpent is associated, and sometimes identified, with the rainbow... Hence the rainbow-serpent may come to occupy an important place in the beliefs and customs relating to medicine-men and the practice of magic. 1965 R. Morris & D. Morris Men & Snakes i. 19 The most spectacular snakes in Australian aboriginal art are the mythical rainbow serpents. These usually live deep in waterholes during the dry season, but take to the thunder clouds when the rains come, sometimes appearing in the sky as rainbows. 1977 Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Jan. 65/1 At the foot of the monolith is an extensive Aboriginal art gallery including an ochre rock painting of the sacred rainbow serpent. 2005 Global Aug. 25/1 Images such as the rainbow serpent, Namarrgon the lightning man, and the Mimi spirits, who taught the people to paint, adorn the walls. rainbow snake n. (a) either of two non-venomous colubrid snakes of the American genus Farancia; esp. F. erytrogramma, a large glossy, striped snake frequenting swamps and streams in the south-eastern United States; (b) Australian = rainbow serpent n. ΚΠ 1899 R. L. Ditmars in N.Y. Times Mag. 19 Feb. 10/3 The star of this collection is the ‘rainbow snake’, a native of Florida. 1949 Times–Picayune (New Orleans) 23 Oct. (Mag.) 2/2 (caption) Mrs. Rainbow Snake laid herself a passel of nice white eggs. 1963 E. Worrell Reptiles of Austral. p. x In most North Australian aboriginal tribes the seed of a child is said to enter the womb of the mother when she bathes in a pool inhabited by the Rainbow Snake, creator of all life. 1995 C. Mattison Encycl. Snakes 133/1 This behaviour..is also seen in the American mud and rainbow snakes, Farancia abacura and F. erytrogramma. rainbow starfrontlet n. a hummingbird, Coeligena iris, which has mainly greenish and chestnut plumage with colourful iridescent patches on the crown and breast, occurring in the Andes of Ecuador and Peru; cf. sense 4b. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Apodiformes > [noun] > family Trochilidae (humming-bird) > unspecified and miscellaneous types of zumbador1758 sunbeam1769 black warrior1831 hermit-bird1837 Anna's hummingbird1839 jacobin1843 straight-tail1843 vervain hummingbird1847 wedge-bill1848 fiery topaz1854 sungem1856 wood-star1859 calliope1861 rainbow1861 sabre-wing1861 sawbill1861 swallowtail1861 sword-bill1861 thorn-bill1861 visor-bearer1861 warrior1861 wood-nymph1861 puffleg1869 calliope hummingbird1872 flame-bearer1882 shear-tail1885 plature1890 rainbow starfrontlet1966 1966 R. Meyer de Schauensee Species Birds S. Amer. 182 Coeligena iris... Rainbow Star-frontlet. 2003 H. Adès & M. Graham Rough Guide Ecuador (ed. 2) iv. 272 A very rewarding half-day hike,..good for spotting birds like the bearded guan, grey-breasted mountain toucan, rainbow starfrontlet, [etc.]. † rainbow-stone n. Obsolete rare = rainbow crystal n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > rock crystal > [noun] > varieties of rainbow-stone1587 Bristol-diamond1596 Bristol1618 Bristol-stone1646 Bristol-gem1706 rainbow crystal1748 cairngorm1794 rhinestone1871 iris1874 the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > tectosilicate > [noun] > quartz > crystalline quartzes > rock crystal crystalOE irisa1387 crystalline1539 rainbow-stone1587 Cornish diamond1591 diamond1591 mountain crystal1598 rock crystal1598 pebble1688 Cornish stone1695 Welsh diamond1705 rainbow crystal1748 quartz crystal1770 Irish diamond1774 1587 A. Golding tr. Solinus Worthie Work xlv. sig. xiiii^v The Iris or Rainbowstone. 1797 Encycl. Brit. XII. 270/1 The iris, or rainbow-stone, seems to be no other than a moon-stone. rainbow trout n. a large trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (formerly Salmo gairdneri), with an iridescent band along the side, native to western North America and widely introduced elsewhere as a sporting and food fish. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Salmonidae (salmon) > [noun] > genus Salmo > trout (unspecified and miscellaneous) > salmo irideus (rainbow trout) rainbow1779 hardhead1792 mountain trout1805 brook trout1869 silver trout1873 rainbow trout1881 steel-head1882 1881 Chester (Pa.) Daily Times 9 Feb. 2/1 The California mountain trout takes its name, rainbow trout, from the beautiful band of colors that runs along the side of the fish. 1936 J. T. Jenkins Fishes Brit. Isles 233 The Americans give the name of Rainbow Trout to the fish known as Salmo shasta, and what we call a Rainbow Trout is known to them as a Steelhead Trout. 1961 E. S. Herald Living Fishes of World 78/1 The rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri, and its several subspecies are highly popular with western American sportsmen. 1986 Gourmet June 90/3 Such treats as..smoked salmon pâté, smoked rainbow trout, and kippered (lightly smoked) salmon. 2006 Wall St. Jrnl. 7 July w10/4 The ranch has two ponds stocked with rainbow trout; guests mostly catch and release, but ranch chefs will cook one for dinner. † rainbow tub n. Obsolete a tub used in calico-printing in the production of rainbow colours. ΚΠ ?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 43 Toby and Rainbow Tub Maker. † rainbow worm n. Medicine Obsolete rare = rainbow rash n. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > tetter tettera700 rainbow rash1806 rainbow worm1817 1817 J. M. Good Physiol. Syst. Nosol. 482 Rain-bow Worm. 1830 G. Macbraire Syst. Med. Nosol. 100 [Herpes] Iris, rainbow worm; it is generally situated on the back of the hand or the palms and fingers, sometimes on the instep. rainbow wrasse n. any of several brightly coloured wrasses; esp. Coris julis of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, the male of which has an orange-red zigzag line along the side; cf. rainbowfish n. 2. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Labrioidei (wrasse) > [noun] > family Labridae > member of genus Coris (rainbow-fish) rainbow wrasse1836 Maori1882 rainbowfish1955 1836 W. Yarrell Hist. Brit. Fishes I. 291 (heading) The rainbow wrasse. 1864 J. Couch Hist. Fishes Brit. Islands III. 51 The usual size of the Rainbow Wrass is in length from four to six or seven inches. 1972 Oxf. Bk. Vertebrates 62/1 Coris julis (Rainbow Wrasse), common in the Mediterranean and adjacent Atlantic, appears only rarely in British waters. 1993 R. van der Elst Guide Common Sea Fishes S. Afr. 232 Thalassoma purpureum. Common names..rainbow or surge wrasse... Many rainbow wrasse are caught by shore anglers. Derivatives ˈrainbow-like adj. ΚΠ 1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iv. vi. 103 If his fathers darling, then perchance he is clothed with a coat, rain-bow like, striped, and streaked..with divers colours. 1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 86 Each Cornea seemed to have its Iris, (or Rain-bow-like Circle) and Apertures or Pupils distinct. 1777 W. Wales Orig. Astron. Obs. 344 The southern lights were exceeding bright and beautiful, and appeared of a semi-circular, or rainbow-like form. 1827 D. Douglas Jrnl. 1 May (1914) 12 The heavenly area of the solid glacier, and the rainbow-like tints of its shattered fragments. 1847 Ld. Lindsay Sketches Hist. Christian Art I. 119 Five concentric rainbow-like semicircles. 1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xxxv. 395 Stella had a heartful of wistful dreams and fancies, as aerial and rainbow-like as Anne's own. 1989 Sci. Amer. May 95/3 Astronomers were on slightly firmer ground regarding continuum spectra: the continuous, rainbowlike background on which a star's absorption or emission lines are superposed. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). rainbowv. Brit. /ˈreɪnbəʊ/, U.S. /ˈreɪnˌboʊ/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: rainbow n. Etymology: < rainbow n. Compare earlier rainbowed adj. 1. a. transitive. To colour or illuminate (an object) with many colours, esp. those of a rainbow. Also figurative. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > variegation > variegate [verb (transitive)] > with rainbow colours rainbow1807 1807 J. Barlow Columbiad iv. 147 His sword, high waving,..rainbow'd far the spray. 1828 L. E. Landon in A. A. Watts Poet. Album 173 The red sun Rainbowed the marble floor with radiant hues. 1883 Times 28 May 7/1 The iconostasis, which presents the appearance of a partition wall, rainbowed with ecclesiastical paintings.., makes the auditorium or nave almost exactly square. 1892 Times 15 Apr. 3/3 The sails ornamented with cyclamen and rainbowed with small signalling flags. 1908 M. J. Cawein Poems II. 18 Is it..that we cling Even to some fancy or dream, Rainbowing everything, Here in our souls, with its gleam? 1947 D. Thomas Let. 12 Jan. (1985) 615 It really was very exciting: wonderful to look at:..the huge floor rainbowed with dancers. 1974 D. Niatum Ascending Red Cedar Moon 44 The Makahs gather each summer to let Old Heart loose again, Rainbow the cape with fires, Feast on salmon, wine, and tuk. 1986 N.Y. Times 7 Jan. a10/1 ‘We have “rainbowed” this government,’ the Mayor said, pointing out that 40 percent of his department heads and top deputies are black and 11 percent are Hispanic. b. intransitive. To resemble a rainbow in coloration, to display a multiplicity of colours; to create a rainbow or a rainbow-like effect. ΚΠ a1953 D. Thomas Under Milk Wood (1954) 60 Gobstoppers big as wens that rainbow as you suck. 1973 H. Brodkey in Amer. Rev. 16 25 Opalescent fog, rainbowed where the lights from the portholes of an immense ship were altered prismatically. 1987 Observer 18 Oct. 51/2 Those more concerned with fashion are rainbowing out into all sorts of colours—pinks, yellow, even green and red to match the Italian flag. 1997 N. Ricci Where she has Gone vii. 47 The spray from the falls fanned out on great, gusting sheets, rainbowing in the setting sun. 2. a. intransitive. To take or describe the shape of a rainbow; to arc (also figurative). ΚΠ 1861 Old Rom. Well II. ix. 86 The lane seems to rainbow round so gallowsly. 1927 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 13 Feb. The wheel continued to spin more rapidly, and more mud and snow rainbowed into the air. 1947 Lima (Ohio) News 24 Sept. 14/1 New York Harbor would have gained a thriller, rainbowing across from Battery Park to Brooklyn. 1989 Los Angeles Times 3 Mar. iii. 9/1 Long, 20-foot shots rainbowed into the basket. Short, pull-up jumpers settled neatly into the net. 1992 W. McGowan Only Man is Vile (1993) v. 91 Love affairs rainbowed over marriages and lasted for years. 2003 K. Bertine All Sundays yet to Come viii. 120 She demonstrated, her arm rainbowing above her head in a soft, flowing arc. b. transitive. U.S. Sport. To throw or hit (a ball) in a high arcing trajectory. Cf. rainbow n. 5. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [verb (transitive)] > play ball in specific way tossc1530 send1782 place1819 dowf1825 loft1857 belt1870 screw1881 smash1882 English1884 carry1889 slice1890 mishit1903 balloon1904 rainbow1906 rifle1914 tuck1958 stroke1960 1906 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 12 Apr. 2 b/1 Haussen rainbowed one out to Crozier in left. 1955 Chicago Tribune 18 Apr. iv. 1/8 The count was 2-1 when Nieman rainbowed the ball into the left field second story. 1985 Los Angeles Times 12 May iii. 1/3 The Lakers ahead by 28 points,..and Byron Scott rainbowing three-pointers on his way to the locker room. 2000 J. Feinstein Last Amateurs (2001) xxviii. 359 He rainbowed the shot..over Taylor and drained it. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.OEv.1807
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rainbown.

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rainbowv.