大雨倾盆

大雨傾盆

dàyǔqīngpén

idiom

Meanings

1 rain pouring down as if from an overturned basin
2 a torrential downpour
3 raining cats and dogs

Characters

to tip; to pour out

Examples

突然大雨倾盆，街上的人纷纷躲进商店。

Tūrán dà yǔ qīng pén, jiē shàng de rén fēnfēn duǒ jìn shāngdiàn.

Suddenly the rain came down in sheets, and people on the street ducked into shops.

比赛进行到一半时大雨倾盆，被迫中断。

Bǐsài jìnxíng dào yíbàn shí dà yǔ qīng pén, bèi pò zhōngduàn.

Halfway through the match a downpour forced a stoppage.

夏天的午后常常突然大雨倾盆。

Xiàtiān de wǔhòu chángcháng tūrán dà yǔ qīng pén.

Summer afternoons often bring sudden torrential rain.

Tips

history

Echoes Du Fu's Tang poem 《白帝》: '白帝城下雨翻盆' — 'below White Emperor City the rain pours from an overturned basin'. The image of a tipped basin became the standard metaphor for downpour.

memory

倾盆 (qīng pén) literally = 'tipping a basin'. Imagine someone upending a giant washbasin overhead — that's the exact picture. The English 'bucketing down' is the closest cousin.

Stroke Order

大 dà

雨 yǔ

倾 qīng

盆 pén