in driving rain

[Vik-Nik-Sor]

If the wind, rain, or snow drives in a particular direction, it moves with great force in that direction.
He crashed into a tree in driving rain.
Colins Cobuild

Does the preposition 'in' mean "while rain drove"?
(or "during")

 

[Gillnetter]

If the wind, rain, or snow drives in a particular direction, it moves with great force in that direction.
He crashed into a tree in driving rain.
Colins Cobuild

Does the preposition 'in' mean "while rain drove"?
(or "during")

No. A better way to write this is "...in a driving rain." A driving rain is a large amount of rain coming down at the same time. For example, a tropical storm is usually accompanied by a driving rain.

 

[Vik-Nik-Sor]

Yes, "at the same time" is what I meant. I just wanted to make sure that in driving rain is an adverbial phrase of time.

 

[Barb_D]

It is not an adverb of time. It tells you what the conditions were like while he was driving.

 

[emsr2d2]

In BrE, we would say "in driving rain", not "in a driving rain". We don't use "rain" countably. You can count raindrops and rainstorms but not rain.

He crashed in driving rain.
He crashed in driving snow.

 

[MikeNewYork]

In BrE, we would say "in driving rain", not "in a driving rain". We don't use "rain" countably. You can count raindrops and rainstorms but not rain.

He crashed in driving rain.
He crashed in driving snow.

In AmE, we would more often use "a".