drown

[ droun ]

/ draʊn /

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See synonyms for: drown / drowned / drowning on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)

to die under water or other liquid of suffocation.

verb (used with object)

to kill by submerging under water or other liquid.

to destroy or get rid of by, or as if by, immersion: He drowned his sorrows in drink.

to flood or inundate.

to overwhelm so as to render inaudible, as by a louder sound (often followed by out).

to add too much water or liquid to (a drink, food, or the like).

to slake (lime) by covering with water and letting stand.

Verb Phrases

drown in,

to be overwhelmed by: The company is drowning in bad debts.
to be covered with or enveloped in: The old movie star was drowning in mink.

OTHER WORDS FOR drown

4 deluge, engulf, submerge, drench, soak.

See synonyms for drown on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of drown

1250–1300; Middle English drounnen,Old English druncnian, perhaps by loss of c between nasals and shift of length from nn to ou

OTHER WORDS FROM drown

drowner, nounhalf-drowned, adjectivehalf-drowning, adjectiveun·drowned, adjective

Words nearby drown

drouk, droukit, drouthy, drove, drover, drown, drowned valley, drown one's sorrows, drown out, drownproof, drownproofing

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use drown in a sentence

If they were submerged for longer, the plants might have drowned, Armitage notes.
Soggy coastal soils? Here’s why ecologists love them|Alison Pearce Stevens|September 17, 2020|Science News For Students
One can imagine the captain of the Titanic insisting on pointing out that 900 people didn’t drown.
The problem with Trump’s ‘herd mentality’ line isn’t the verbal flub. It’s the mass death.|Philip Bump|September 16, 2020|Washington Post
Any student of modern math must know what it feels like to drown in a well of telescoping terminology.
Why Mathematicians Should Stop Naming Things After Each Other - Issue 89: The Dark Side|Laura Ball|September 2, 2020|Nautilus
Nala is Ophelia, Simba’s love, though thankfully she doesn’t go mad from being ignored by him and drown.
7 daring movie adaptations of literary classics|Allegra Frank|August 28, 2020|Vox

It could be how I so clearly remember the night I almost drowned.
Towards ‘Eternal Sunshine’? New Links Found Between Memory and Emotion|Shelly Fan|July 28, 2020|Singularity Hub
It seems like, since we live in the sound bite era, grabby headlines like “EBOLA” and “ISIS” tend to drown out those numbers.
Jon Stewart Talks ‘Rosewater’ and the ‘Chickensh-t’ Democrats’ Midterm Massacre|Marlow Stern|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Goldman, wisely, does not raise a raft of questions that drown a writer in the answering.
Mexico City: Francisco Goldman’s Other Lost Love|Jason Berry|September 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Watching her drown her sorrows in hooch and then get beat up by Crazy Eyes in the showers was ghastly…but great television.
Inside ‘Orange Is the New Black’ S2, Eps. 6-12: About That Shocking Incest Scene|Kevin Fallon, Marlow Stern|June 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If prioritizing guns over dead kids makes you angry, stand up and drown his words out with action.
Joe the Plumber’s ‘Dead Kid’ Callousness|Erica Lafferty|May 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The ice breaks, the Reds drown, the Whites rally to take the Island.
This 1979 Novel Predicted Putin’s Invasion Of Crimea|Michael Weiss|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Consequently, I haven't been very bright, though I am gradually coming up to the surface again, for I'm pretty hard to drown!
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
He noticed the date on the hotel calendar, and realised that the Fates had another ten days in which to drown him.
Uncanny Tales|Various
"If you had been Reff you wouldn't have run away and left me to drown," went on Coulter, stubbornly.
The Mystery at Putnam Hall|Arthur M. Winfield
And the noise it makes is something terrific, I assure you—loud enough to drown half-a-dozen pianos.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 109, July 27, 1895|Various
She threatened to go beyond sea, to throw herself out of window, to drown herself.
The History of England from the Accession of James II.|Thomas Babington Macaulay

British Dictionary definitions for drown

drown

/ (draʊn) /

verb

to die or kill by immersion in liquid

(tr) to destroy or get rid of as if by submerginghe drowned his sorrows in drink

(tr) to drench thoroughly; inundate; flood

(tr sometimes foll by out) to render (a sound) inaudible by making a loud noise

Derived forms of drown

drowner, noun

Word Origin for drown

C13: probably from Old English druncnian; related to Old Norse drukna to be drowned

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 drown

drown

In addition to the idioms beginning with drown

drown one's sorrows
drown out

also see:

like a drowned rat

drown

OTHER WORDS FOR drown

Origin of drown

OTHER WORDS FROM drown

Words nearby drown

Words related to drown

How to use drown in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for drown

Derived forms of drown

Word Origin for drown

Other Idioms and Phrases with drown