Definition of "rainbow"

Why are there so many songs about rainbowsAnd what's on the other side?Rainbows are visions, but only illusionsAnd rainbows have nothing to hide.

1979, Paul Williams, Kenneth Ascher (lyrics and music), “Rainbow Connection”, performed by Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson)

Finally, by actual trial, I have found that I can catch more rainbow by using one fly than with a two or three-fly cast.

1911, Francis R. Steel, “Catching the Rainbow Trout”, in The Outing Magazine, volume 58, page 482

That Asian-American actor Thomas Ikeda contributes a pleasingly frantic Panthino would not be considered rainbow enough.

1994, John Simon, Of Dogs, Their Masters, and Others, in New York magazine, September 5 1994, page 51

He went along with them because the Pack was a rainbow group — two Italian-Americans, a black man, a Jew (Bishop), and a sometime Englishman (Lawford) — and they were making a point.

2006, Anthony Summers, Robbyn Swan, Sinatra: The Life, page 246

The 1999 June elections led to a surprise change in the governing coalition from the long-term ruling Christian Democrats to a rainbow group of Greens, Liberals, and Socialists.

2007, Melissa Haussman, Birgit Sauer, Gendering the state in the age of globalization, page 67

[…] it seemed to me to be naive indeed for the Liberal Democrats to believe that they could simply enter into a rainbow alliance against the Labour Government.

2007, Hooson, in a Letter to the Western Mail, 19 June 2007, published in Crossing the Rubicon: coalition politics Welsh style by John Osmond, page 28

Mayawati has succeeded in building a social coalition that inverts the pyramid of caste/class hierarchy by building a rainbow alliance of social groups, now dominated by that greatest underclass of all, namely Dalits.

2008, Bidyut Chakrabarty, Indian politics and society since independence, page 76

Similarly, the question of who belongs in such a rainbow alliance isn't set. It can include gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals. It can include people who are 'questioning' which culture they belong to [...]

2005, Alan McKee, The public sphere: an introduction, page 167

We saw birds and butterflies rainbowing in the sun; lazy lizards crawling in the heat; inguanas blinking on stone wall, with mouth wide open for flies; poisonous snakes, not only carved on walls, but gliding through the grass.

1917, G[ulian] L[ansing] Morrill, The Devil in Mexico, Minneapolis, MN: [?], page 55

“She's going to learn to belay while I'm climbing? What if I fall?” “You're not going to fall while rainbowing a 5.8, and besides, she'll catch you.” “I could die.” “That would be tragic,” I said. Kaitlyn crossed her arms.

2016, Kristin Lenz, Art of Holding On and Letting Go, Elephant Rock Books

called “rainbowing.” Different routes were color coordinated... Using hand-me-down equipment and learning as much as she could, Brittany began climbing outdoors. She found like-minded people and joined organizations such as Brown ...

2021, Ann McCallum Staats, Thrill Seekers: 15 Remarkable Women in Extreme Sports, Chicago Review Press