It had been "spitting" with rain for the last half-hour, and now it began to pour in good earnest.
dcterms:bibliographicCitation
1834 October, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “The Steam Excursion”, in Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], volume II, London: John Macrone, […], published 1836, →OCLC, page 310:
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It spits snow this afternoon. Saw a flock of snowbirds on the Walden road. I see them so commonly when it is beginning to snow that I am inclined to regard them as a sign of a snow-storm.
dcterms:bibliographicCitation
1851 December 23, Henry David Thoreau, “December, 1851 (Æt[atis] 34)”, in Bradford Torrey, editor, The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal, volumes III (September 16, 1851 – April 30, 1852), Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin and Company, published 1906, →OCLC, page 153: