drain
to withdraw or draw off (a liquid) gradually; remove slowly or by degrees, as by filtration: to drain oil from a crankcase.
to withdraw liquid gradually from; make empty or dry by drawing off liquid: to drain a crankcase.
to exhaust the resources of: to drain the treasury.
to deprive of strength; tire.
to flow off gradually.
to become empty or dry by the gradual flowing off of liquid or moisture: This land drains into the Mississippi.
something, as a pipe or conduit, by which a liquid drains.
Surgery. a material or appliance for maintaining the opening of a wound to permit free exit of fluids.
gradual or continuous outflow, withdrawal, or expenditure.
something that causes a large or continuous outflow, expenditure, or depletion: Medical expenses were a major drain on his bank account.
an act of draining.
Physical Geography.
an artificial watercourse, as a ditch or trench.
a natural watercourse modified to increase its flow of water.
Idioms about drain
go down the drain,
to become worthless or profitless.
to go out of existence; disappear.
Origin of drain
1Other words from drain
- drain·a·ble, adjective
- drainer, noun
- o·ver·drain, verb
- un·drain·a·ble, adjective
- un·drained, adjective
- well-drained, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use drain in a sentence
In my tests, all this chirping and listening isn’t much of an additional drain on your battery.
A covid-fighting tool is buried in your phone. Turn it on. | Geoffrey Fowler | November 20, 2020 | Washington PostWe’re under a “general rain advisory,” which means there’s higher bacterial levels than normal in the ocean, especially near storm drains, rivers or lagoons.
Environment Report: Coastal Neighborhoods Supported Measure E Least | MacKenzie Elmer | November 9, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoTransfer to a colander set in the kitchen sink and let drain, until slightly limp, about 30 minutes.
This bo ssam dream is within reach, and it starts with your Instant Pot | Eric Kim | October 28, 2020 | Washington PostHe pointed to an incident in July in which a defector, according to South Korean officials, crawled beneath barbed wire and through a drain on Ganghwa Island, before swimming more than half a mile to North Korea.
These microfibers flow out of washing machines, down the drain and into the world’s rivers, lakes and oceans.
Washing your jeans too much might pose risks to the environment | Sharon Oosthoek | October 12, 2020 | Science News For Students
Divided and drained by war, Syrian Christians are determined to celebrate for the first time in four years.
In One Corner of Syria, Christmas Spirit Somehow Manages to Survive | Peter Schwartzstein | December 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe drained the wine from the tumbler and turned away from the window, and there was no self-pity in his gravelly voice.
Football Great Bob Suffridge Wanders Through the End Zone of Life | Paul Hemphill | September 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd the medications were sold to the government at huge mark-ups that drained the health care budget.
‘There Are People Who Should Live’: Good Confronts Evil in Ukraine | Michael Daly | July 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTResources are being drained from all parties, and in the end, no one wins—especially children.
At the moment they look like dirt-caked kiddie pools, long-drained.
On this account, great care should be taken to provide well-drained positions.
How to Know the Ferns | S. Leonard BastinThe pool was drained in 1866, and, having been filled up, its site will ere long be covered with streets of houses.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham | Thomas T. Harman and Walter ShowellThe bed should be drained by a little ditch around it on the upper side.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.It is very probable, indeed, that in twenty thousand years the waters of that basin will be to a great extent drained away.
Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate ShalerPerhaps he had waited too long for the simple breakfast; perhaps the recent glory had drained him of vital force.
The Dragon Painter | Mary McNeil Fenollosa
British Dictionary definitions for drain
/ (dreɪn) /
a pipe or channel that carries off water, sewage, etc
an instance or cause of continuous diminution in resources or energy; depletion
surgery a device, such as a tube, for insertion into a wound, incision, or bodily cavity to drain off pus, etc
electronics the electrode region in a field-effect transistor into which majority carriers flow from the interelectrode conductivity channel
down the drain wasted
(tr often foll by off) to draw off or remove (liquid) from: to drain water from vegetables; to drain vegetables
(intr often foll by away) to flow (away) or filter (off)
(intr) to dry or be emptied as a result of liquid running off or flowing away: leave the dishes to drain
(tr) to drink the entire contents of (a glass, cup, etc)
(tr) to consume or make constant demands on (resources, energy, etc); exhaust; sap
(intr) to disappear or leave, esp gradually: the colour drained from his face
(tr) (of a river, etc) to carry off the surface water from (an area)
(intr) (of an area) to discharge its surface water into rivers, streams, etc
Origin of drain
1Derived forms of drain
- drainable, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with drain
see brain drain; down the drain.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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