drain

American  

[drayn] / dreɪn /

verb (used with object)

• drains,
  present (3rd person singular)
• drained,
  past participle,  past
• draining
  present participle

1. to withdraw or draw off (a liquid) gradually; remove slowly or by degrees, as by filtration.

   to drain oil from a crankcase.

2. to withdraw liquid gradually from; make empty or dry by drawing off liquid.

   to drain a crankcase.

3. to exhaust the resources of.

   to drain the treasury.

4. to deprive of strength; tire.

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verb (used without object)

• drains,
  present (3rd person singular)
• drained,
  past participle,  past
• draining
  present participle

1. to flow off gradually.

2. to become empty or dry by the gradual flowing off of liquid or moisture.

   This land drains into the Mississippi.

noun

• drains
  plural

1. something, as a pipe or conduit, by which a liquid drains.

2. Surgery. a material or appliance for maintaining the opening of a wound to permit free exit of fluids.

3. gradual or continuous outflow, withdrawal, or expenditure.

4. something that causes a large or continuous outflow, expenditure, or depletion.

   Medical expenses were a major drain on his bank account.

5. an act of draining.

6. Physical Geography.

   1. an artificial watercourse, as a ditch or trench.

   2. a natural watercourse modified to increase its flow of water.

idioms

1. go down the drain,

   1. to become worthless or profitless.

   2. to go out of existence; disappear.

drain British  

/ dreɪn /

noun

1. a pipe or channel that carries off water, sewage, etc

2. an instance or cause of continuous diminution in resources or energy; depletion

3. surgery a device, such as a tube, for insertion into a wound, incision, or bodily cavity to drain off pus, etc

4. electronics the electrode region in a field-effect transistor into which majority carriers flow from the interelectrode conductivity channel

5. wasted

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verb

1. to draw off or remove (liquid) from

   to drain water from vegetables

   to drain vegetables

2. to flow (away) or filter (off)

3. (intr) to dry or be emptied as a result of liquid running off or flowing away

   leave the dishes to drain

4. (tr) to drink the entire contents of (a glass, cup, etc)

5. (tr) to consume or make constant demands on (resources, energy, etc); exhaust; sap

6. (intr) to disappear or leave, esp gradually

   the colour drained from his face

7. (tr) (of a river, etc) to carry off the surface water from (an area)

8. (intr) (of an area) to discharge its surface water into rivers, streams, etc

drain More Idioms  

1. see brain drain; down the drain.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• drainer
  noun
• overdrain
  verb
• drainable
  adjective
• undrainable
  adjective
• undrained
  adjective
• well-drained
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• drains
  plural

Participles

• draining
  present
• drained
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• drain
  simple
• drains
  simple
• have drained
  perfect
• has drained
  perfect
• am draining
  progressive
• are draining
  progressive
• is draining
  progressive
• have been draining
  perfect progressive
• has been draining
  perfect progressive

Past

• drained
  simple
• had drained
  perfect
• was draining
  progressive
• were draining
  progressive
• had been draining
  perfect progressive

Future

• will drain
  simple
• will have drained
  perfect
• will be draining
  progressive
• will have been draining
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of drain

before 1000; Middle English dreynen, Old English drēhnian, drēahnian to strain, filter; akin to dry

Explanation

Most commonly found at the bottom of sinks and bathtubs across the globe, a drain is the hole through which water is carried away. If it rains on the day you decided to go to the beach, you could say your plans went right "down the drain." When used as a verb, to drain means "to gradually empty," whether it's a man-made lake that's got to go or some financial obligations putting a strain on your wallet. And that obnoxious guy who's sucking the life out of the party? He's a real drain too.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

drain drains drained draining

Concerns about his age resurfaced two years ago following an accident in the palace bathroom—he fell while cutting his nails and underwent emergency surgery to drain a brain bleed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

Pumping stations have been operating at full capacity for days, but Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said Sunday it could take "up to a week" for the waters to fully drain.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

Test each drain on your property by placing a garden hose in it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Anita Cleare, parenting expert and author of The Work/Parent Switch, said the overall cognitive drain spills over into our work lives and leads to unsustainable burnout.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

He felt the blood drain from his face.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Keane said the problem was at least partly down to misconnections, where plumbing from housing developments is wrongly linked to surface water drains rather than sewers, sending untreated waste into waterways.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Dry, windy days lift ash back into the air, while rain and snow turn it into a heavy deposit blocking drains and damaging infrastructure.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

Perhaps even more disloyally, he allows his producers to run her song “Don’t Let Go” through a pop blender that drains it of all its personal meaning and artistic integrity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

That drains about $1 billion a year from the capital’s economy, according to an analysis by Oxford Economics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

Fear drains from his mother like a wave back into the sea.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

“To Catch a Predator” drained some of the humanity from TV.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

But these sights are drained of their warmth, depicted with a cold, eerie hum that, when it bleeds into the roar of suffering miles away, becomes a deafening cacophony.

From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2026

Mentally, physically, emotionally, I’m drained to the last drop.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

"The peat is drained by extractive plantations, monoculture plantations, whether oil palm or pulpwood," Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Belgis Habiba told AFP in Pontianak.

From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026

His voice grew distant as if he’d traveled back in time, then it fell flat, drained of all emotion.

From "Worth" by A. LaFaye

Wildfires in Indonesia are blamed in large part on slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that result in the destruction of fire-resistant forest cover and the draining of peatlands.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

Not everyone was happy with the new format and there were complaints that a serious, and sometimes emotionally draining sequence, was followed by a quirky item on, for example, rude-looking vegetables.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

But she can be draining and very negative.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

As a young man, Francisco traversed it on horseback, eking out a living by draining resin from the towering pines.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026

Raizel fell silent, the anger draining from her face.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Related Words

• bleed
• consume
• deplete
• diminish
• divert
• dry
• empty
• exhaust
• pump
• reduce
• sap
• siphon
• strain
• suck
• tap
• use up