rainmakers

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...

   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)...
   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
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.
3. (informal) A batted ball that is hit very high into the air.
   • The slugger is known for hitting rainmakers.