Meanings
present singular third person raises Cain · participle present raising Cain · participle past raised Cain · past raised Cain
- idiomaticSynonym of raise hell.
Those damned boys have been out drinking and raising Cain again tonight.
2 more examples
Why have we every reason to believe that Adam and Eve were both rowdies? Because Eve raised the Old Harry, and they both raised Cain.
1840 July 11, “A Good Joke”, in The New England Weekly Review (Hartford [Conn.])"I seen old Flint in the corner there, behind you; as plain as print, I seen him; and if I get the horrors, I'm a man that has lived rough, and I'll raise Cain."
1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLCSynonyms: raise hell
Synonyms & antonyms
verbSynonym of raise hell.
Origin
From Cain, the biblical son of Adam and Eve, the first murderer. The expression implies raising him from the dead and thus bringing or returning that evil to Earth.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian вдигам скандал
- вдигам скандал (vdigam skandal)to cause trouble
German Ärger machen, Streit anzetteln
- Ärger machento cause trouble
- Streit anzettelnto cause trouble
Italian fare il diavolo a quattro
- fare il diavolo a quattroto cause trouble
Russian подня́ть шу́м, буя́нить
- подня́ть шу́м (podnjátʹ šúm)to cause trouble
- буя́нить (bujánitʹ)to cause trouble
Spanish armar la de san Quintín
- armar la de san Quintínto cause trouble
Cite this entry
raise Cain. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raise%20Cain
“raise Cain.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raise%20Cain. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “raise Cain,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raise%20Cain.
Source: raise Cain on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.