Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense drains, present participle draining, past tense, past participle drained
1. verb
If you drain a liquid from a place or object, you remove the liquid by causing it to flow somewhere else. If a liquid drains somewhere, it flows there.
Miners built the tunnel to drain water out of the mines. [VERB noun adverb/preposition]
Now the focus is on draining the water. [VERB noun]
Springs and rivers that drain into lakes carry dissolved nitrates and phosphates. [VERB preposition/adverb]
The water slowly drained away, down through the porous soil. [VERB preposition/adverb]
Synonyms: remove, draw, empty, withdraw More Synonyms of drain
2. verb
If you drain a place or object, you dry it by causing water to flow out of it. If a place or objectdrains, water flows out of it until it is dry.
Vast numbers of people have been mobilised to drain flooded land. [VERB noun]
The soil drains freely and slugs aren't a problem. [VERB]
3. verb
If you drain food or if food drains, you remove the liquid that it has been in, especially after it has been cooked or soaked in water.
Drain the pasta well, arrange on four plates and pour over the sauce. [VERB noun]
Wash the leeks thoroughly and allow them to drain. [VERB]
4. countable noun
A drain is a pipe that carries water or sewage away from a place, or an opening in a surface that leads to the pipe.
Tony built his own house and laid his own drains.
...storm drains.
Synonyms: sewer, channel, pipe, sink More Synonyms of drain
5. verb
If someone drains a glass, they empty it by drinking what is in it.
[literary]
Pamela drained her glass and refilled it. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: drink up, swallow, knock back, finish More Synonyms of drain
6. verb
If the colour or the blood drains or is drainedfrom someone's face, they become very pale. You can also say that someone's face drains or is drainedof colour.
[literary]
Harry felt the colour drain from his face. [VERB + from]
Thacker's face drained of colour. [VERB + of]
Jock's face had been suddenly drained of all colour. [beVERB-ed + of]
His usually florid complexion seemed drained of colour. [VERB-ed]
[Also VERB noun from noun]
7. ergative verb
If a feeling drains or is drained out of you, it gradually becomes less strong until you no longer feel it.
And then, suddenly, the euphoria began to drain away. [VERB adverb/preposition]
She felt the tension drain out of her. [VERB adverb/preposition]
The happiness and the excitement had been drained completely from her voice. [beV-ed from n]
8. verb
If something drains you, it leaves you feeling physically and emotionally exhausted.
My emotional turmoil had drained me. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: exhaust, tire, wear out, strain More Synonyms of drain
drainedadjective
United left the pitch looking stunned and drained.
drainingadjective
This work is physically exhausting and emotionally draining.
9. ergative verb
If energy drains or is drained from you, you lose all energy and become very tired.
As his energy drained away, his despair and worry grew. [VERB adverb/preposition]
I can help resolve conflicts that drain energy. [VERB noun]
drainedgraded adjective [usually verb-link ADJECTIVE, usu ADJof n]
He could rest only when he was too drained of energy to fret further.
10. singular noun [usually adjective NOUN]
If you say that something is adrainon an organization's finances or resources, you mean that it costs the organization a large amount of money, and you do not consider that it is worth it.
...an ultra-modern printing plant, which has been a big drain on resources. [+ on]
Fraud trials are often complex and have become an expensive drain on the public purse.
Synonyms: reduction, strain, drag, expenditure More Synonyms of drain
11. See also brain drain
12. verb
If you say that a country's or a company's resources or finances are drained, you mean that they are used or spent completely.
The state's finances have been drained by war. [beVERB-ed]
The company has steadily drained its cash reserves. [VERB noun]
13.
See down the drain
14.
See down the drain
Phrasal verbs:
See drain off
More Synonyms of drain
drain in British English
(dreɪn)
noun
1.
a pipe or channel that carries off water, sewage, etc
2.
an instance or cause of continuous diminution in resources or energy; depletion
3. surgery
a device, such as a tube, for insertion into a wound, incision, or bodily cavity to drain off pus, etc
4. electronics
the electrode region in a field-effect transistor into which majority carriers flow from the interelectrode conductivity channel
5. down the drain
verb
6. (transitive; often foll byoff)
to draw off or remove (liquid) from
to drain water from vegetables
to drain vegetables
7. (intransitive; often foll byaway)
to flow (away) or filter (off)
8. (intransitive)
to dry or be emptied as a result of liquid running off or flowing away
leave the dishes to drain
9. (transitive)
to drink the entire contents of (a glass, cup, etc)
10. (transitive)
to consume or make constant demands on (resources, energy, etc); exhaust; sap
11. (intransitive)
to disappear or leave, esp gradually
the colour drained from her face
12. (transitive)
(of a river, etc) to carry off the surface water from (an area)
13. (intransitive)
(of an area) to discharge its surface water into rivers, streams, etc
Derived forms
drainable (ˈdrainable)
adjective
Word origin
Old English drēahnian; related to Old Norse drangr dry wood; see dry
drain in American English
(dreɪn)
verb transitive
1.
to draw off (liquid) gradually
2.
to draw water or any liquid from gradually so as to dry or empty
to drain swamps
3.
to receive the waters of
the St. Lawrence drains the Great Lakes
4.
to drink all the liquid from (a cup, glass, etc.)
5.
to exhaust (strength, emotions, or resources) gradually
6. Obsolete
to filter
verb intransitive
7.
to flow off gradually
8.
to become dry by the drawing or flowing off of liquid
9.
to disappear gradually
his courage drained away
10.
to discharge its waters
central Europe drains into the Danube
noun
11.
a channel or pipe for carrying off water, sewage, etc.
12.
a draining or exhausting
13.
that which gradually exhausts strength, resources, etc.
14. Surgery
a tube or other device for drawing off discharge, fluid, etc. from a cavity, wound, etc.
Idioms:
down the drain
Derived forms
drainer (ˈdrainer)
noun
Word origin
ME dreinen < OE dreahnian, to strain off, lit., to dry out < base of dryge, dry
drain in Hospitality
(dreɪn) or plughole
Word forms: (regular plural) drains
noun
(Hospitality (hotel): Hotel room, bathroom)
A drain is a hole in a bathtub or sink that allows the water to flow away.
The shower drain is blocked with hair.
The stopper for the drain of the sink is missing.
Chambermaids put the plug in the drain to indicate that they have cleaned the room.
More idioms containing
drain
laugh like a drain
go down the drain
be going down the drain
Examples of 'drain' in a sentence
drain
Our failure to qualify and the personal anguish my family has suffered has left me emotionally drained.
The Sun (2017)
Failing to manage your credit report and score can be like throwing money down the drain.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Remove to a board and drain away most of the fat from the roasting tin.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Drain carefully and leave to cool in the colander.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Place two drained poached eggs in each bowl then spoon on the remaining yoghurt.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Then time passed and the colour drained from both cheeks and scoreboard.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Press to drain off excess liquid.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It was physically draining to watch.
The Sun (2017)
If we get a quarter of an inch of rain, the storm drains still overflow.
Smithsonian Mag (2017)
The green wash seems to drain the colour out of other effervescent aspects of our lives.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
But they often drain your battery and incur huge internet fees.
The Sun (2014)
We have to find a balance of being enthusiastic and throwing money down the drain.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The liquid drains off until the walls are too thin to contain the air and pop.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
We felt physically and mentally drained at the end.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Then follows the biggest financial drain on their collective value.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
This tube normally drains your tear fluid away.
The Sun (2012)
It drains the face and makes you look older than your years.
The Sun (2012)
They still need football if the stadium is not to be a drain on the public purse.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
What gradually drains some energy from the show is the production.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Remove with a draining spoon and place in a colander to steam dry.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The vegetarian risotto looked as if it had been collected from the bottom of a storm drain.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Drain carefully and leave to cool in the colander.
The Sun (2012)
When there is a surplus of the people resource it becomes a drain on profits.
Torrington, Derek Personnel Management: A New Approach (1991)
Experts said doing extra homework was not enough to combat the brain drain caused by screen time.
The Sun (2015)
The bad blood may have drained away but their rivalry is still there.
The Sun (2014)
The colour drained away with immense slowness.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Training without outcomes is throwing money down the drain.
O'Connor, Joseph & Seymour, John Training with N.L.P. (1994)
Stir the gelatine into the liquid drained from the fruit.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The device has been well received, but has been a significant financial drain on the company.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The ferocious battle for good schools and good universities is so expensive and emotionally draining that no parent would want to endure it twice.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
When worry takes on a life of its own, it becomes a huge and often pointless drain on our time and energy.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Word lists with
drain
Medical and surgical instruments and equipment
In other languages
drain
British English: drain /dreɪn/ NOUN
A drain is a pipe that carries water or sewage away from a place, or an opening in a surface that leads to the pipe.
Tony built his own house and laid his own drains.
American English: drain
Arabic: مَصْرَفٌ لِلمِيَاه
Brazilian Portuguese: dreno
Chinese: 排水沟
Croatian: odvod
Czech: odpad odtok
Danish: dræn
Dutch: afvoerkanaal
European Spanish: sumidero
Finnish: viemäri
French: égout
German: Abzugsrinne
Greek: σωλήνας αποχέτευσης
Italian: tubo di scarico
Japanese: 排水管
Korean: 배수 펌프질 하다
Norwegian: avløp
Polish: kanał rów odwadniający
European Portuguese: dreno
Romanian: canal de scurgere
Russian: дренаж
Latin American Spanish: desagüe
Swedish: avlopp
Thai: ท่อระบายน้ำ
Turkish: atık borusu
Ukrainian: водовідвід
Vietnamese: cống
British English: drain /dreɪn/ VERB
If you drain a liquid from a place or object, you remove the liquid by causing it to flow somewhere else. If a liquid drains somewhere, it flows there.
They built the tunnel to drain water out of the mines.
The water drained from the bath.
American English: drain
Arabic: يُصَرِّفُ ماءً
Brazilian Portuguese: drenar
Chinese: 排放
Croatian: iscijediti
Czech: vypustit vodu
Danish: dræne
Dutch: afvoeren
European Spanish: vaciar
Finnish: tyhjentää nesteestä
French: égoutter
German: entwässern
Greek: στραγγίζω
Italian: drenare
Japanese: 排水する
Korean: (...에서) 배출시키다 방출
Norwegian: tappe
Polish: osuszyć
European Portuguese: drenar
Romanian: a scurge
Russian: осушать
Latin American Spanish: escurrir
Swedish: tappa ut
Thai: ระบายออก
Turkish: atık boşaltmak
Ukrainian: осушувати
Vietnamese: tháo nước
All related terms of 'drain'
drain off
If you drain off a liquid from a place or object, you remove the liquid by causing it to flow somewhere . If a liquid drains off somewhere, it flows there.
drain rod
one of a series of flexible rods with threaded ends that screw together and can be pushed to and fro in a drain to clear a blockage
brain drain
When people talk about a brain drain , they are referring to the movement of a large number of scientists or academics away from their own country to other countries where the conditions and salaries are better.
drain blood
Blood is the red liquid that flows inside your body, which you can see if you cut yourself.
drain plug
A drain plug is a plug which is taken out to allow a fluid to be drained from a tank such as an engine oil pan or sump .
field drain
an underground earthenware pipe used for draining fields
mole drain
an underground cylindrical drainage channel cut by a special plough to drain heavy agricultural soil
storm drain
a drain intended to cope with the large amounts of water that appear in times of heavy rain or flooding
catchwater drain
a channel cut along the edge of high ground to catch surface water from it and divert it away from low-lying ground
down the drain
If you say that something is going down the drain , you mean that it is being destroyed or wasted.
go down the drain
to be lost or wasted
laugh like a drain
to laugh a lot
be going down the drain
to be getting worse or to be being destroyed, with little hope of recovery
Chinese translation of 'drain'
drain
(dreɪn)
n
(c) (in street) 排水沟(溝) (páishuǐgōu) (条(條), tiáo)
to be a drain on sth[resources, funds]某物的大量的消耗 (mǒuwù de dàliàng de xiāohào)