rain check

See also: raincheck

English

A baseball rain check (sense 1)

Rain check (sense 2.1.1) at CVS, shown below the empty shelf for the sold-out item

Alternative forms

• raincheck, rain-check, raincheque, rain cheque, rain-cheque

Etymology

1877 US in baseball; metaphorical usage from 1896, more generally from 1930. From at least 1870, baseball teams would reissue tickets in case of postponement due to rain, which became known as rain checks.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

Noun

rain check (plural rain checks)

2. (originally US baseball) A reissue, at no extra charge, of a ticket for a baseball game or other outdoor event postponed or interrupted because of rain.
   • 1920 March – 1921 February, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Summer Storms”, in Indiscretions of Archie, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, publishers […], published 1921, →OCLC, page 167:

     With trembling fingers he pulled out his watch. The hands pointed to five minutes to three. A blessed vision came to him of a moist and disappointed crowd receiving rain-checks up at the Polo Grounds.

   • 1954, Chuck Willis, “I Feel So Bad”:

     Feel so bad / Feel like a ball game on a rainy day / Yes, I got my rain check / Shake my head and walk away

   • 2010, Peter Morris, Chicago Times, July 8, 1877, quoted in A Game of Inches: The Stories Behind the Innovations That Shaped Baseball, →ISBN, 15.1.3 Rain Checks, pages 411–412:

     The St. Louis club is the only nine in the league which gives its patrons the right to see a full game or no pay. In Chicago and other cities, after the first inning is interrupted by rain the spectators are supposed to have received their money’s worth. In St. Louis ‘rain checks’ are issued in such cases.

3. (figurative) An agreement to honor a current offer after its normal expiration.
   1. A promise or voucher from a merchant to a customer:
      2. A (special) price guarantee for a sold-out item or temporarily unavailable service.
         • 2010, Kristin Peoples, Don't Throw Those Coupons Away!, →ISBN, pages 17–18:

           This means that if you go to the store for a half priced $25 turkey, but the turkeys are out, you can get a rain check. With the rain check, when those turkeys arrive again in a week or so, you will get half price, even if the sale is over.

         • 2010, Kathy Spencer, Samantha Rose, How to Shop for Free‎^[1], Da Capo Lifelong, →ISBN, page 52:

           So if you go to CVS to cash in on the Venus Razor BOGO deal and you discover that other shoppers have beat you to it and the shelves are empty, instead of pitching a fit, you can kindly ask a cashier or store manager to give you a rain check. That way, you can return at your leisure and still get the deal while others are back to paying full price.

      3. (less commonly) The promise to make good on any experience that the customer deems unsatisfactory.
         • 1896 January, Caduceus of Kappa Sigma, volume 11, number 1, Philadelphia, page 305:

           [Regarding visiting the Indianapolis, Indiana, chapter of the fraternity Kappa Sigma] […] if in any respect the affair does not suit you—call at the box office and you’ll get your money back or get a rain check, just as you please.

   2. (by extension) In social interactions, a deferred invitation, or deferred acceptance of an invitation.

      I can't go with you to the museum this Saturday, but can I take a rain check and go some other day?

      • 1994, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by Vincent Vega (John Travolta):

        I'm on my way somewhere. I got a dinner engagement. Rain check?

      • 2024 August 6, Gena Kaufman, “33 Rainy-Day Date Ideas That Aren’t Another Movie”, in Glamour‎^[2]:

        When a sudden rainstorm interrupts your plans for a date, you have some choices: (a) brave the weather, (b) choose an equally fun indoor activity, (c) straight up refuse to leave the house and instead stay in together, or (d) be that person who asks for a last-minute raincheck (don’t be that person).

Derived terms

• raincheck (verb)
• take a rain check

Translations

an extension or postponement of an offer

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 改天 (zh) (gǎitiān)

• Dutch: tegoedhoudertje n, uitstel maar geen afstel
• Finnish: siirto (fi)
• German: Gutschein (de) m, Gutschrift (de) f, Verschieben auf später n
• Japanese: お預け (おあずけ, o-azuke), 延期 (ja) (えんき, enki)
• Russian: утеши́тельный тало́н m (utešítelʹnyj talón)
• Spanish: cheque pluvial m