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
It drains your body of nutrients and vitamins, attacking the central nervous system and leaving you in a dehydrated, hazy state.
It seeps up into the city from below, through even the smallest cracks and drains.
He winks, smacks his lips and frantically drains the go-cup.
The Stacks: The Neville Brothers Stake Their Claim as Bards of the Bayou | John Ed Bradley | April 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTItems that might seem drains on the budget may in fact be boons.
Can Jimmy Fallon Be Himself on ‘The Tonight Show’? | Tom Shales | February 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFor those that need to visualize this, think about the way hamburger grease clogs your drains.
6 Ways to Avoid ‘Sochi Gut’ While Watching the Olympics | Jenna A. Bell | February 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Even the Grass-land is often ridged so as to shed the water quickly, while deep ditches or drains do duty for fences.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleySo long as Christians have an overwhelming majority who will not touch the drains, diphtheria must continue.
God and my Neighbour | Robert BlatchfordTheir tracks have been seen along the government drains and around watering ponds where they probably went to hunt for frogs.
The Red Cow and Her Friends | Peter McArthurSecond, the storm and sanitary drains are connected on the outside of the building.
Elements of Plumbing | Samuel DibbleThey builded houses and forts, and dug drains and built aqueducts, and tilled the soil.
Steam Steel and Electricity | James W. Steele
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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