drought

American  

[drout] / draʊt /

Also drouth

noun

1. a period of dry weather, especially a long one that is injurious to crops.

2. an extended shortage.

   a drought of good writing.

   Synonyms:

   famine, paucity, dearth, want, lack, scarcity

3. Archaic. thirst.

---

drought British  

/ draʊt /

noun

1. a prolonged period of scanty rainfall

2. a prolonged shortage

3. Archaic and Scot form: drouth.  an archaic or dialect word for thirst

---

drought Scientific  

/ drout /

1. A long period of abnormally low rainfall, lasting up to several years.

---

Pronunciation

Drought and drouth, nouns derived from the adjective dry plus a suffix, are spellings that represent two phonetic developments of the same Old English word, and are pronounced and respectively. The latter pronunciation, therefore, is not a mispronunciation of drought. The now unproductive suffix -th1 and its alternate form -t were formerly used to derive nouns from adjectives or verbs, resulting in such pairs as drouth — drought from dry and highth—height (the former now obsolete) from high. In American English, drought with the pronunciation is common everywhere in educated speech, and is the usual printed form.

Usage

What does drought mean? A drought is a long period with no rain or unusually low levels of rain or other precipitation.Because weather and climate are different in different places throughout the world, there is no single definition of what counts as a drought. However, it always refers to a significant period of dry weather. Droughts have many harmful effects, including water shortages, crop failure, and in some cases famine, among other things. The word is often used in the phrase drought conditions, referring to very dry conditions resulting from a lack of rainfall.Drought can also be used in a figurative way to refer to an extended shortage of or long period without something, as in The city has the longest championship drought in all of sports. Example: The drought continued for more than three weeks and wildfires started to appear.

Other Word Forms

• droughty adjective

Etymology

Origin of drought

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English drūgath, equivalent to drūg- (base of drȳge “dry”) + -ath noun suffix; cognate with Dutch droogte “dryness”; dry, -th ¹

Example Sentences

He focuses on land-use policy and conflicts across the American West and has special expertise in coverage of wildfires, mudslides, drought and other Western natural disasters.

From The Wall Street Journal

Somehow, the six seasons between the Patriots’ last Super Bowl appearance and the game this week marked the longest drought in Kraft’s 32 years owning the franchise.

From The Wall Street Journal

For the first time in 25 years, no part of California is currently experiencing drought, or even abnormally dry conditions, according to the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

And what’s going to happen to this tourist town next week after the festival leaves during the worst snow drought in a century to date?

From Los Angeles Times

Should he snap the drought he would be the youngest man in the Open era to win all four majors, surpassing compatriot and legend Rafael Nadal, who was 24 when he did so.

From Barron's

Related Words

• lack
• scarcity