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drown

 - 6 dictionary results

drown

  [droun]
Use drown in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to die under water or other liquid of suffocation.
–verb (used with object)
2. to kill by submerging under water or other liquid.
3. to destroy or get rid of by, or as if by, immersion: He drowned his sorrows in drink.
4. to flood or inundate.
5. to overwhelm so as to render inaudible, as by a louder sound (often fol. by out).
6. to add too much water or liquid to (a drink, food, or the like).
7. to slake (lime) by covering with water and letting stand.
—Verb phrase
8. drown in,
a. to be overwhelmed by: The company is drowning in bad debts.
b. to be covered with or enveloped in: The old movie star was drowning in mink.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME drounnen, OE druncnian, perh. by loss of c between nasals and shift of length from nn to ou

Related forms:
drowner, noun

Synonyms:
4. deluge, engulf, submerge, drench, soak.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To drown
drown   (droun)   
v.   drowned, drown·ing, drowns

v.   tr.

  1. To kill by submerging and suffocating in water or another liquid.

  2. To drench thoroughly or cover with or as if with a liquid.

  3. To deaden one's awareness of; blot out: people who drowned their troubles in drink.

  4. To muffle or mask (a sound) by a louder sound: screams that were drowned out by the passing train.

v.   intr.
To die by suffocating in water or another liquid.

[Middle English drounen, probably of Scandinavian origin; see dhreg- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

drown 
c.1300, perhaps from O.E. druncnian "be swallowed up by water" (originally of ships as well as living things), from base of drincan "to drink." Modern form is from northern England dialect, probably infl. by O.N. drukna "be drowned."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: drown
Pronunciation: 'draun
Function: verb
Inflected Form: drowned /'draund/; drown·ing /'drau-ni[ng]/
intransitive senses
1 : to suffocate in water or some other liquid
2 : to suffocate because of excess of body fluid that interferes with the passage ofoxygen from the lungs to the body tissues (as in pulmonary edema) drown transitive senses
: to suffocate by submersion especially in water <drowned threekittens>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Bible Dictionary

Drown

(Ex. 15:4; Amos 8:8; Heb. 11:29). Drowning was a mode of capital punishment in use among the Syrians, and was known to the Jews in the time of our Lord. To this he alludes in Matt. 18:6.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

drown

In addition to the idioms beginning with drown, also see like a drowned rat.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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