Meaning & Origin

“Take a rain check” means to postpone accepting an invitation — saying you can’t now, but you’d like to do it another time. The phrase comes from U.S. baseball, where a “rain check” was a voucher letting ticket holders attend a game that was rained out on a later date.

Pronunciation Guide

• rain — rhymes with “train.”
• check — short “e,” like “check.”
• Natural rhythm: take a RAIN CHECK.

Usage & Sentence Examples

Use it to decline now while keeping the door open for later.

• Mind if I take a rain check on drinks? I’m wiped.
• She took a rain check on the conference this year.
• We’ll have to take a rain check on the offsite until budgets clear.
• Can I take a rain check and join the next session?
• They took a rain check on the partnership until Q1.
• Thanks for the invite — I’ll take a rain check this time.

Synonyms

postpone · reschedule · defer · do it another time · take a pass for now · set a rain date