gully washer
A hard rain that fills ditches and washes out the road.
Also called gully-washer, gulley warsher.
Updated September 24, 2026
gully washer pronunciation
/GUL-ee WAH-sher/
Meaning
A gully washer is the kind of downpour that turns a dry creek bed into a muddy river. Farmers and truck drivers use it when the sky opens up and water starts cutting new ruts in the yard. It sits next to talk like frog-strangler and goose-drownder when folks brag about how bad the storm got.
How folks use it
- “We got a gully washer last night and the driveway's washed clean out.”
- “Hold off on planting till after this gully washer blows through.”
Origin and etymology
American farm talk built on "gully," a ditch cut by runoff. OED and dialect sources track gully-washer for a heavy downpour by the early 1900s, including Appalachian writing. DARE finds it widespread outside New England, and it stays common in Southern and rural speech.