drank

[ drangk ]

/ dræŋk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR drank ON THESAURUS.COM

verb

a simple past tense and past participle of drink.

Nearby words

drink

[ dringk ]

/ drɪŋk /

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

SYNONYMS FOR drink

2. tope. 5. quaff. 9. toast.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR drink ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

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

Examples from the Web for drank

“Bars love to tell those stories: ‘So and so drank here, and George Washington slept here,’” Sismondo says.
The Bars That Made America Great|Nina Strochlic|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Normally at high latitude you feel really unwell, but I drank it and felt rejuvenated.
Bulletproof Coffee and the Case for Butter as a Health Food|DailyBurn|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Caligula drank “pearls of great price dissolved in vinegar.”
An Ivy League Frat Boy’s Shallow Repentance|Stefan Beck|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then, she claims that after she drank the coffee, she felt woozy.
How Bill Cosby Allegedly Silenced His Accusers Through A Tabloid Smear Campaign|Marlow Stern|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

As President, the Father of the Constitution James Madison drank a pint a day.
The Booze That Saved America|Kevin Bleyer|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They all drank, and their hearts were warmed and peace reigned once more.
The Downfall|Emile Zola
We were nobly treated, however, and the whisky flowed like water, but we drank no more than was good for us.
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland|Various
Leaving Umslopogaas to hold the horses, I hobbled to the spring and drank deep of its sweet waters.
Allan Quatermain|H. Rider Haggard
His volubility increased with his perturbation, and then he drank excessively and sang Dixie.
A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital|John Beauchamp Jones
She turned the oblong handle which released two of the windows, pulled it towards her, and drank in the fresh night air.
A Butterfly on the Wheel|Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull

British Dictionary definitions for drank

drank

/ (dræŋk) /

verb

the past tense of drink

drink

/ (drɪŋk) /

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

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

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.

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

drank

verb

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

drink

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

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

noun

Origin of drink

Synonym study

Usage note

Examples from the Web for drank

drank

verb

drink

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

noun

Word Origin for drink

drank

drink

drink