when it rains, it pours

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: when it rains it pours

Sense 1

Meaning · English

Unfortunate events occur in streaks or clusters, often in short periods of time.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Các sự kiện bất hạnh xảy ra thành chuỗi trong thời gian ngắn

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used American English
Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).

Sense 2

Meaning · English

Many bad things happen at the same time

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Nhiều điều tồi tệ xảy ra cùng một lúc

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: rain pouring
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

I just got fired and now my car broke down, when it rains, it pours

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, 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 “when it rains, it pours” mean?

Unfortunate events occur in streaks or clusters, often in short periods of time.

Is “when it rains, it pours” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.