rainmaker
/ˈɹeɪnmeɪkə/
Etymology
From rain + maker.
rainmaker means someone or something that causes or attempts to cause rain to fall. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 72 out of 100.
rainmaker is pronounced /ˈɹeɪnmeɪkə/.
Why “rainmaker” is a great word
RAINMAKER — [Noun] A person who is believed to cause or attempt to cause rain to fall, especially through ritual or scientific methods. From rain + maker, with the compound first attested in English in 1775 in the writings of James Adair, referring to Native American ritual practitioners. Unlike "fundraiser," a solicitor of financial contributions, or "shaman," a general spiritual intermediary, the rainmaker is defined by a singular, miraculous utility: the generation of a fundamental resource from apparent nothingness. He is the ritual dancer in a circle of cracked earth, the charlatan with his dubious artillery of chemicals, the executive whose presence promises a flood of capital—an archetype of desperate hope, the fragile conviction that desire, properly focused, can alter the indifferent machinery of the sky.
noun
- 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 important feature of his work consists in playing upon the credulity of mankind.”
- Someone or something that causes or attempts to cause rain to fall.; 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 chopped and mixed with different kinds of wood and leaves of trees; the whole are then burned. The secret”
- Someone or something that causes or attempts to cause rain to fall.; 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.”
- 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.”
- A batted ball that is hit very high into the air.“The slugger is known for hitting rainmakers.”