a rainy day

a rainy day

A time or period of unforeseen difficulty, trouble, or need. I know you want to buy a new TV with your bonus, but you should really save that money for a rainy day. I put aside a portion of my wages each month for a rainy day.
See also: rainy

rainy day, a

A time of need or trouble, as in We knew a rainy day would come sooner or later. This idiom is often used in the context of save for a rainy day, which means to put something aside for a future time of need. [Late 1500s]
See also: rainy

a rainy day

a possible time of need, usually financial need, in the future.
The expression may originate from the days when casual farm labourers needed to save a proportion of their wages ‘for a rainy day’, i.e. for occasions when bad weather might prevent them from working and earning money.
2002 New York Times Book Review The Russian walked out of K.G.B. headquarters with ‘insurance against a rainy day’—the K.G.B.'s file on its secret mole inside the F.B.I.
See also: rainy
References in classic literature ?
NOT long after Grandfather had told the story of his great chair, there chanced to be a rainy day.
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When the old man died some years after I stepped into his place, and now of course I have top wages, and can lay by for a rainy day or a sunny day, as it may happen, and Nelly is as happy as a bird.
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Find out some respectable woman with a little property--somebody in the landlady way, or lodging-letting way--and marry her, against a rainy day.
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The whole story never happens on a rainy day because all the characters who make up the story action stay comfortably inside their storybook homes when it is rainy.
Once Upon a Rainy Day
On a rainy day I like to stay home and watch television with my little brother and sister.
On a rainy day I like to play race cars with my brother Jacob.
My favorite rainy day activity
Given the boom-and-bust nature of state finances, a case can be made that putting money into a rainy day fund is the most prudent course of action.
A drop in the bucket: rainy day funds proved no match against recession-era budget gaps
The Exec Committee wanted to save the revenues from increased ticket sales and merchandise into a rainy day fund -- a fund that would allow them to remain competitive if, and when the World Series revenue bounce disappeared (as of today, the Giants are 7.
Does Bill Neukom's Departure as Managing Partner of Giants Mean A's Get Into San Jose?
Let state '0' represents that a day is a non-rainy day and state '1' represents the day is a rainy day in the rainy season of a year.
Markov chain analysis of rainfall data
The measure, which imposes a cap on state spending growth based on the rate of inflation and population increases, is being promoted as a way to protect public services in the next economic slump by establishing a rainy day fund.
What to call Measure 48 is first salvo in campaign
What wildlife would we be more likely to see on a rainy day than on a sunny day?
Rainy day fun: rain-inspired activities
On a rainy day, I would first step outside with my rainbow umbrella (hoping a real rainbow will come out), and just run.
INSIDE AND OUTSIDE WITH RAINY DAY KIDS
As you can see this is what I would do for a rainy day activity.
My favorite rainy day activity
OREGON'S BUDGET CRISIS is the direct result of the lack of a rainy day fund and is indirectly due to past tax kickers.
State badly needs a rainy day fund
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