drowning

drown   (droun)    v.   drowned, drown·ing, drowns v.   tr. To kill by submerging and suffocating in water or another liquid. To drench thoroughly or cover with or as if with a liquid. To deaden one's awareness of; blot out: people who drowned their troubles in drink. 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.]

drown 

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>

drowning

suffocation by immersion in a liquid, usually water. Water closing over the victim's mouth and nose cuts off the body's supply of oxygen. Deprived of oxygen the victim stops struggling, loses consciousness, and gives up the remaining tidal air in his lungs. There the heart may continue to beat feebly for a brief interval, but eventually it ceases. Until recently, the oxygen deprivation that occurs with immersion in water was believed to lead to irreversible brain damage if it lasted beyond three to seven minutes. It is now known that victims immersed for an hour or longer may be totally salvageable, physically and intellectually, although they lack evidence of life, having no measurable vital signs-heartbeat, pulse, or breathing-at the time of rescue. A fuller appreciation of the body's physiological defenses against drowning has prompted modification of traditional therapies and intensification of resuscitative efforts, so that many people who once would have been given up for dead are being saved.

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