drown
Americanverb (used without object)
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 byout ).
-
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 phrase
verb
-
to die or kill by immersion in liquid
-
(tr) to destroy or get rid of as if by submerging
he drowned his sorrows in drink
-
(tr) to drench thoroughly; inundate; flood
-
to render (a sound) inaudible by making a loud noise
Other Word Forms
- drowner noun
- half-drowned adjective
- half-drowning adjective
- undrowned adjective
Etymology
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
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Here, excited conversation isn’t drowned out by pre-movie reels, and the screen is revealed with spectacle when the motorized curtain opens, instead of projecting a slew of advertisements from the moment one enters the auditorium.
From Salon
As rain pounded the cloth of her makeshift tent in central Gaza one night recently, Jihan Khalaf kept watch with a flashlight to ensure her three children didn’t drown in their sleep.
"We are lucky we survived. We had tremendous support - but I can promise you, there were times where I felt like I was drowning. And it was the media, primarily," he told the BBC.
From BBC
The bass notes of the girl group’s first single “Debut” echo through the venue, bright stage lights shine on its members and a screaming crowd nearly drowns out their vocals.
From Los Angeles Times
In 1926, she vanished at Venice Beach and was thought to have drowned.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
