drought
Use Drought in a sentence
Ads
Water Removal 24/7 www.adalexgroup.net/ Flood and Water Extraction Free Estimates Call 718 832-6600
Dictionary.com's Mobile Apps www.dictionary.com/mobile Ad-Free, Offline Content, Audio Pronunciation and More! Take Millions of Words With You Everywhere. Download Now!
noun
1.
a period of dry weather, especially a long one that is injurious to crops.
2.
an extended shortage: a drought of good writing.
3.
Archaic. thirst.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English; Old English drūgath, equivalent to drūg- (base of drȳge dry) + -ath -th1; cognate with Dutch droogte dryness
before 1000; Middle English; Old English drūgath, equivalent to drūg- (base of drȳge dry) + -ath -th1; cognate with Dutch droogte dryness
Synonyms
2. scarcity, lack, want, dearth, paucity, famine.
2. scarcity, lack, want, dearth, paucity, famine.
Pronunciation note
Drought and drouth, nouns derived from the adjective dry plus a suffix, are spellings that represent two phonetic developments of the same Old English word, and are pronounced [drout] and [drouth] respectively. The latter pronunciation, therefore, is not a mispronunciation of drought. The now unproductive suffix -th 1 and its alternate form -t were formerly used to derive nouns from adjectives or verbs, resulting in such pairs as drouth — drought from dry and highth—height (the former now obsolete) from high.
In American English, drought with the pronunciation [drout] is common everywhere in educated speech, and is the usual printed form.
Drought and drouth, nouns derived from the adjective dry plus a suffix, are spellings that represent two phonetic developments of the same Old English word, and are pronounced
[drout] and [drouth] respectively. The latter pronunciation, therefore, is not a mispronunciation of drought. The now unproductive suffix -th 1 and its alternate form -t were formerly used to derive nouns from adjectives or verbs, resulting in such pairs as drouth — drought from dry and highth—height (the former now obsolete) from high. In American English, drought with the pronunciation
[drout] is common everywhere in educated speech, and is the usual printed form.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To drought
00:10
Drought
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
drought (draʊt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a prolonged period of scanty rainfall |
| 2. | a prolonged shortage |
| 3. | an archaic or dialect word for thirst Archaic and Scot form: drouth |
| [Old English drūgoth; related to Dutch droogte; see | |
| 'droughty | |
| —adj | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
drought
O.E. drugað, from P.Gmc. *drugothaz; related to drugian "dry up, whither" + -ith Gmc. suffix for forming abstract n. from adj. Drouth was a M.E. variant continued in Scot. and northern Eng. dialect.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Science Dictionary
| drought (drout) Pronunciation Key
A long period of abnormally low rainfall, lasting up to several years. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Easton
Bible Dictionary
Drought definition
From the middle of May to about the middle of August the land of Palestine is dry. It is then the "drought of summer" (Gen. 31:40; Ps. 32:4), and the land suffers (Deut. 28:23: Ps. 102:4), vegetation being preserved only by the dews (Hag. 1:11). (See DEW.)
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Example sentences
We see a lot of heavier precipitation, drought increases in a lot of regions.
He also found that the epidemics didn't happen during the drought.
It is examining several ways of making plants more tolerant of drought.
Indicators based on climatology enable people to describe drought in a consistent way across different times and places.
Image for drought
Nearby Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
