rainmaker

Noun

rainmaker (plural rainmakers)

1. Someone or something that causes or attempts to cause rain to fall.
   • It is the uncertainty of rainfall in southern California that doubtless makes this region attractive to the rainmaker. […] An examination into the methods of the rainmaker shows a disregard of physical laws, and a review of the history of rainmaking affords no proof of his success. By far the most...1918 May 8, Ford Ashman Carpenter, “Alleged Manufacture of Rain in Southern California”, in Herbert H. Kimball, editor, Monthly Weather Review, volume 46, number 8, Washington, D.C.: Government...
   • By using a portable artificial "rainmaker" it is possible to obtain run-off data for rains of different amounts and intensities under a variety of conditions.1940 July, [United States] Forest Service, [United States] Soil Conservation Service, “Consequences of Change in Vegetal Cover”, in Influences of Vegetation and Watershed Treatments on Run-off...

   Synonyms:

   pluviculturist

   1. A medicine man, shaman, or the like, who seeks to induce rain through performing rituals, as in African or Native American cultures.
      • Drought is the inherent vice of the climate of Africa, and the frequent destruction of the hopes of the husbandman which occurs from this cause, might have given origin to the function of "Rainmaker," among a less superstitious population. […] To procure rain, an ox is killed; the fat of it is...1825, [Conrad] Malte-Brun, “Book LXIX. Africa.”, in Universal Geography, or A Description of All the Parts of the World, […], volumes IV (Containing the Description of Africa and Adjacent Islands)...
      • I looked up from under the bush, and saw a dark place in the sky, I heard a voice, it said; "Call for rain,"—and I did call. But no rain fell—I knew I was to be a rain-maker. Our people have always had rain-makers among them. So looking up again, a flash of lightning came out of the cloud, I heard...1833 June 1, “Traits of Indian Character. From the Philadelphia Com. Herald.”, in Thomas Hersey, editor, The Thomsonian Recorder, or Impartial Advocate of Botanic Medicine, and the Principles which...
   2. A person who seeks to induce rainfall through scientific methods, such as cloud seeding.
      • Rainmakers consider seeding Bangkok sky as PM2.5 returns to ‘safe’ level [title] […] The Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation Department is preparing to seed clouds above Bangkok in an attempt to ease the capital’s smog problems.2018 February 12, “Rainmakers consider seeding Bangkok sky as PM2.5 returns to ‘safe’ level”, in The Nation, Bangkok, archived from the original on 16 Feb 2018
      • The system, which involves an enormous network of fuel-burning chambers installed high up on the Tibetan mountains, could increase rainfall in the region by up to 10 billion cubic metres a year […] One of the biggest challenges the rainmakers faced was finding a way to keep the chambers operating...2018 March 27, Stephen Chen, “China needs more water. So it’s building a rain-making network three times the size of Spain.”, in South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, archived from the original on 16...
2. (US, figuratively, informal) A person having the ability to generate business, raise funds, or otherwise engineer success for a company, organization, etc.
   • The law firm relied heavily on Charlotte as its main rainmaker to bring in new clients.
   • The fact is, that since a good, sound, honest, efficient, automatic, nonmetallic currency and standard was tampered with in 1893, India has been a happy hunting-ground for any empiric who conjured with a new scheme of currency, no matter how fantastic. Instead of admitting after a fair test that no...1913 January, Moreton Frewen, “The Great Drain of Gold to India”, in The Nineteenth Century and After: A Monthly Review Founded by James Knowles, volume LXXIII, number CCCCXXXI, New York, N.Y....
3. (informal) A batted ball that is hit very high into the air.
   • The slugger is known for hitting rainmakers.
   • His #Boomstick helped [Nelson] Cruz earn a spot as the second-longest Statcast™-rated homer of the 2016 season, coming up just shy of Giancarlo Stanton's 504-foot rainmaker in August.2016 September 24, Adrian Garro, “Nelson Cruz’s 493-foot monster homer in Minnesota is Statcast’s second-longest of 2016”, in Cut4, MLB.com, Major League Baseball, archived from the original on 09...