drool
Americanverb (used without object)
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to water at the mouth, as in anticipation of food; salivate; drivel.
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to show excessive pleasure or anticipation of pleasure.
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to talk foolishly.
noun
verb
verb
Etymology
Origin of drool
1795–1805; variant of driule, itself variant of drivel
Explanation
The dampness that forms in your mouth when you smell something delicious is drool. When it actually drips from your mouth, you drool. The official term for drool is saliva. Babies drool, dogs drool — we all drool sometimes. Sometimes people drool (or salivate) because of problems with their salivary glands. You might drool when you skip breakfast and your friend offers you a warm, homemade cinnamon roll. The word comes from drivel, which today means "speak nonsense," but originally had the sense of "to slobber or run at the nose."
Vocabulary lists containing drool
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Half an hour later, I woke up with a little drool seeping from the corner of my mouth.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
They need a sizable guaranteed income, great health care and a comfortable living until they freeze in a blank stare and drool from a podium in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
From Salon • Aug. 15, 2025
“Go find 10 images of bathrooms you just drool over,” West says.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 16, 2023
Castles, volcanoes and yurts — oh my — whiz past at a clip that would make a dice-roller drool.
From New York Times • Mar. 30, 2023
A quick check revealed a fist-sized chunk of frozen drool blocking the rubber valve that admitted ambient air into the mask from the atmosphere.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
