transitive. To delay, postpone, put off (something). Also intransitive.

To glide or pass easily out of (or from) one's hand or grasp, through (or between) one's fingers, etc., so as to escape or be lost. In later use…

transitive. Nautical. To break off and remove (a part of a vessel) by force. Also: to lose (a part of a vessel) as a result of breakage. Occasionally…

Colloquial figurative phrase, to go (etc.) down the drain, to disappear, get lost, vanish; to deteriorate, go to waste.