rain fire and brimstone
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To strongly condemn or punish someone
Literally: fire and sulfur falling from the sky
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The politician rained fire and brimstone on her opponent's scandalous behavior
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “rain fire and brimstone” mean?
To strongly condemn or punish someone Literally: fire and sulfur falling from the sky
Is “rain fire and brimstone” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.