ACID RAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does acid rain mean? 

• ACID RAIN (noun)
  The noun ACID RAIN has 1 sense:

1. rain containing acids that form in the atmosphere when industrial gas emissions (especially sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) combine with water

  Familiarity information: ACID RAIN used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ACID RAIN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Rain containing acids that form in the atmosphere when industrial gas emissions (especially sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) combine with water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

acid precipitation; acid rain

Hypernyms ("acid rain" is a kind of...):

air pollution (pollution of the atmosphere)

 Context examples 

Found in the atmosphere as a key ingredient in photochemical formation of smog and acid rain, Nitrogen Dioxide is a poisonous gas that forms during combustion.

(Nitrogen Dioxide, NCI Thesaurus)

"This study provides key evidence that acid rain also affects the movement of water between soil and the atmosphere and impacts the amount of water available for humans."

(Previously unknown mechanism causes increased forest water use, National Science Foundation)

The effects of acid rain on water quality and ecological systems have been known for many years, but acid rain's influence on the water cycle was largely unknown, says Ingrid Padilla, a program director in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences.

(Previously unknown mechanism causes increased forest water use, National Science Foundation)

Researchers have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that causes increased water use in forests, advancing our understanding of forest water cycles and highlighting threats to plants from water stress, as happens from acid rain.

(Previously unknown mechanism causes increased forest water use, National Science Foundation)