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definitions

drank

[drangk]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR drank ON THESAURUS.COM

verb

a simple past tense and past participle of drink.

drink

[dringk]

verb (used without object), drank or (Nonstandard) drunk, drunk or, often, drank, drink·ing.

to take water or other liquid into the mouth and swallow it; imbibe.
to imbibe alcoholic drinks, especially habitually or to excess; tipple: He never drinks. They won't find jobs until they stop drinking.
to show one's respect, affection, or hopes with regard to a person, thing, or event by ceremoniously taking a swallow of wine or some other drink (often followed by to): They drank to his victory.
to be savored or enjoyed by drinking: a wine that will drink deliciously for many years.

verb (used with object), drank or (Nonstandard) drunk, drunk or, often, drank, drink·ing.

to take (a liquid) into the mouth and swallow.
to take in (a liquid) in any manner; absorb.
to take in through the senses, especially with eagerness and pleasure (often followed by in): He drank in the beauty of the scene.
to swallow the contents of (a cup, glass, etc.).
to propose or participate in a toast to (a person, thing, or event): to drink one's health.

noun

any liquid that is swallowed to quench thirst, for nourishment, etc.; beverage.
liquor; alcohol.
excessive indulgence in alcohol: Drink was his downfall.
a swallow or draft of liquid; potion: She took a drink of water before she spoke.
Informal. a large body of water, as a lake, ocean, river, etc. (usually preceded by the): His teammates threw him in the drink.

Origin of drink

before 900; Middle English drinken, Old English drincan; cognate with Dutch drinken, German trinken, Gothic drinkan, Old Norse drekka
Related formsout·drink, verb (used with object), out·drank or (Nonstandard) out·drunk; out·drunk or, often, out·drank; out·drink·ing.o·ver·drink, verb (used with object), o·ver·drank or (Nonstandard) o·ver·drunk; o·ver·drunk or, often, o·ver·drank; o·ver·drink·ing.

Synonyms for drink

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR drink ON THESAURUS.COM
2. tope. 5. quaff. 9. toast.

Synonym study

5. Drink, imbibe, sip refer to swallowing liquids. Drink is the general word: to drink coffee. Imbibe is formal in reference to actual drinking; it is used more often in the sense to absorb: to imbibe culture. Sip implies drinking little by little: to sip a cup of broth.

Usage note

As with many verbs of the pattern sing, sang, sung and ring, rang, rung, there is some confusion about the forms for the past tense and past participle of drink. The historical reason for this confusion is that originally verbs of this class in Old English had a past-tense singular form in a but a past-tense plural form in u. Generally the form in a has leveled out to become the standard past-tense form: We drank our coffee. However, the past-tense form in u, though considered nonstandard, occurs often in speech: We drunk our coffee.
The standard and most frequent form of the past participle of drink in both speech and writing is drunk : Who has drunk all the milk? However, perhaps because of the association of drunk with intoxication, drank is widely used as a past participle in speech by educated persons and must be considered an alternate standard form: The tourists had drank their fill of the scenery. See also drunk.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for drank

inhale, consume, sip, drain, gulp, guzzle, suck, quaff, slurp, toast, sponge, gargle, irrigate, slosh, swill, imbibe, absorb, swig, indulge, tipple

Examples from the Web for drank

Contemporary Examples of drank

Historical Examples of drank

  • He raised his flagon and drank to him, with a merry flash of his white teeth.

    The White Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • Katie brought his coffee to his room, and he drank it standing.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • The night assistant sent coffee down to them, and they drank it.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • No one drank except as the leader said they could, and at night they made prayers and songs.

    The Trail Book

    Mary Austin

  • Laughingly they drank this toast; and the skewers were filled a second time.

    Her Father's Daughter

    Gene Stratton-Porter

British Dictionary definitions for drank

drank

verb

the past tense of drink

drink

verb drinks, drinking, drank (dræŋk) or drunk (drʌŋk)

to swallow (a liquid); imbibe
(tr) to take in or soak up (liquid); absorbthis plant drinks a lot of water
(tr usually foll by in) to pay close attention (to); be fascinated (by)he drank in the speaker's every word
(tr) to bring (oneself into a certain condition) by consuming alcohol
(tr often foll by away) to dispose of or ruin by excessive expenditure on alcoholhe drank away his fortune
(intr) to consume alcohol, esp to excess
(when intr, foll by to) to drink (a toast) in celebration, honour, or hope (of)
drink someone under the table to be able to drink more intoxicating beverage than someone
drink the health of to salute or celebrate with a toast
drink with the flies Australian informal to drink alone

noun

liquid suitable for drinking; any beverage
alcohol or its habitual or excessive consumption
a portion of liquid for drinking; draught
the drink informal the sea
Derived Formsdrinkable, adjective

Word Origin for drink

Old English drincan; related to Old Frisian drinka, Gothic drigkan, Old High German trinkan
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
Word Origin and History for drank

Old English dranc, singular past tense of drink. It also became past participle 17c.-19c., probably to avoid the pejorative associations of drunk.

drink

v.

Old English drincan "to drink," also "to swallow up, engulf" (class III strong verb; past tense dranc, past participle druncen), from Proto-Germanic *drengkan (cf. Old Saxon drinkan, Old Frisian drinka, Dutch drinken, Old High German trinkan, German trinken, Old Norse drekka, Gothic drigkan "to drink"), of uncertain origin, perhaps from a root meaning "to draw." Not found outside Germanic.

Most Indo-European words for this trace to PIE *po(i)- (cf. Greek pino, Latin biber, Irish ibim, Old Church Slavonic piti, Russian pit'; see imbibe).

The noun meaning "beverage, alcoholic beverage" was in late Old English.

The noun, AS. drinc, would normally have given southern drinch (cf. drench), but has been influenced by the verb. [Weekley]

To drink like a fish is first recorded 1747.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with drank

drink

In addition to the idioms beginning with drink

  • drink like a fish
  • drink to

also see:

  • drive someone crazy (to drink)
  • into the drink
  • meat and drink to
  • nurse a drink
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.