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drown

[droun]
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verb (used without object)
  1. to die under water or other liquid of suffocation.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to kill by submerging under water or other liquid.
  2. to destroy or get rid of by, or as if by, immersion: He drowned his sorrows in drink.
  3. to flood or inundate.
  4. to overwhelm so as to render inaudible, as by a louder sound (often followed by out).
  5. to add too much water or liquid to (a drink, food, or the like).
  6. to slake (lime) by covering with water and letting stand.
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Verb Phrases
  1. drown in,
    1. to be overwhelmed by: The company is drowning in bad debts.
    2. to be covered with or enveloped in: The old movie star was drowning in mink.
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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
Related formsdrown·er, nounhalf-drowned, adjectivehalf-drown·ing, adjectiveun·drowned, adjective

Synonyms

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4. deluge, engulf, submerge, drench, soak.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for half-drowned

Historical Examples

  • Lambert came to himself with a half-drowned sense of suffocation.

    The Duke Of Chimney Butte

    G. W. Ogden

  • You get half-drowned, or drowned altogether, before you discover your danger.

    Angling Sketches

    Andrew Lang

  • And seems to me it sounded like a half-drowned shout for help.

    Afloat on the Flood

    Lawrence J. Leslie

  • The engineer placed the half-drowned creature by its mother's side.

  • "Not about a half-drowned girl taking the trouble to wash her face," he said.

    The Seven Darlings

    Gouverneur Morris

British Dictionary definitions for half-drowned

half-drowned

adjective
  1. nearly dead or killed by immersion in liquidhalf-drowned crewmen lay on the planks
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drown

verb
  1. to die or kill by immersion in liquid
  2. (tr) to destroy or get rid of as if by submerginghe drowned his sorrows in drink
  3. (tr) to drench thoroughly; inundate; flood
  4. (tr sometimes foll by out) to render (a sound) inaudible by making a loud noise
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Derived Formsdrowner, noun

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for half-drowned

drown

v.

c.1300, transitive and intransitive, perhaps from an unrecorded derivative word of Old English druncnian (Middle English druncnen) "be swallowed up by water" (originally of ships as well as living things), probably from the base of drincan "to drink."

Modern form is from northern England dialect, probably influenced by Old Norse drukna "be drowned." Related: Drowned; drowning.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with half-drowned

drown

In addition to the idioms beginning with drown

  • drown one's sorrows
  • drown out

also see:

  • like a drowned rat
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.