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View synonyms for

drown

[ droun ]

verb (used without object)

  1. to die under water or other liquid of suffocation.


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.

    Synonyms: , , , ,

  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.

verb phrase

    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.

drown

/ ʊ /

verb

  1. to die or kill by immersion in liquid
  2. tr to destroy or get rid of as if by submerging

    he drowned his sorrows in drink

  3. tr to drench thoroughly; inundate; flood
  4. trsometimes foll byout to render (a sound) inaudible by making a loud noise
“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˈǷɲԱ, noun
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Other Word Forms

  • Ƿɲİ noun
  • 󲹱-ǷɲԱ adjective
  • 󲹱-ǷɲiԲ adjective
  • ܲ·ǷɲԱ adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of drown1

1250–1300; Middle English drounnen, Old English druncnian, perhaps by loss of c between nasals and shift of length from nn to ou
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Word History and Origins

Origin of drown1

C13: probably from Old English druncnian; related to Old Norse drukna to be drowned
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Idioms and Phrases

  • like a drowned rat
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Hymns played out on giant speakers, occasionally drowned out by the sound of helicopters flying overhead, as drones and seagulls crisscrossed over Michelangelo's dome.

From

Adrift and emasculated, Stan is less a patriarch than the defeated captain of a sinking ship, drowning in his futility.

From

She was resuscitated at the scene but died six days later due to injuries caused by drowning.

From

I learned that McPherson built it and held pageant-like sermons there, walked into the sea and was thought drowned.

From

The two British tourists who drowned off the coast of a popular tourist town at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef have been named.

From

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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.

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