rainbow definition - Dictionary

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rainbow

rain·bow [ ráyn b ]

noun (plural rain·bows)

Definition:

1. multicolored arc in sky: an arc of light separated into bands of color that appears when the Sun's rays are refracted and reflected by drops of mist or rain. The colors of the rainbow are conventionally said to be red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

2. arc of bands of color: a multicolored arc similar to a rainbow

3. bright multicolored sight: an arrangement, display, or sight containing many bright colors or bright multicolored objects

the rainbow of colors on an artist's palette

4. false hope: a goal, hope, or ideal that is unlikely to be achieved or realized

5. varied assortment: a wide range or varied assortment of things, usually coexisting without clashing

adjective

Definition:

1. having varied colors: having the colors of the rainbow or colors as varied as those of a rainbow

2. made of many different things: comprising a wide variety of types or elements, especially made up of people of different ethnic groups or from a variety of minority groups

a rainbow coalition

Cultural Note


	The Rainbow, a novel (1915) by British writer D. H. Lawrence. Set in the English Midlands between 1840 and 1905, it describes the impact of contemporary social developments on the lifestyles and attitudes of succeeding generations of a provincial family, the Brangwens. The latter part of the book focuses on Ursula, the family's first independent woman, whose story is continued in a subsequent novel Women in Love (1920).