Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense drowns, present participle drowning, past tense, past participle drowned
1. verb
When someone drowns or is drowned, they die because they have gone or been pushed under water and cannot breathe.
Forty-eight people have drowned after their boat capsized during a storm. [VERB]
A child can drown in only a few inches of water. [VERB]
Last night a boy was drowned in the river. [beVERB-ed]
He walked into the sea and drowned himself. [VERB pronoun-reflexive]
Dolphins have sometimes been known to save drowning swimmers. [VERB-ing]
[Also VERB noun]
2. verb
If you say that a person or thing is drowningin something, you are emphasizing that they have a very large amount of it, or are completely covered in it.
[emphasis]
We were drowning in data but starved of information. [VERBin noun]
...people who gradually find themselves drowning in debt. [VERB + in]
The potatoes were drowned in chilli. [beVERB-ed]
3. verb
If something drowns a sound, it is so loud that you cannot hear that sound properly.
Clapping drowned the speaker's words for a moment. [VERB noun]
The conversation was drowned by the arrival of the taxi. [VERB noun]
Drown out means the same as drown.
Their cheers drowned out the protests of demonstrators. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
Her voice was drowned out by a loud crash. [VERBPARTICLE noun (not pronoun)]
[Also VERB noun PARTICLE]
4.
See to drown one's sorrows
More Synonyms of drown
drown in British English
(draʊn)
verb
1.
to die or kill by immersion in liquid
2. (transitive)
to destroy or get rid of as if by submerging
he drowned his sorrows in drink
3. (transitive)
to drench thoroughly; inundate; flood
4. (transitive; sometimes foll byout)
to render (a sound) inaudible by making a loud noise
Derived forms
drowner (ˈdrowner)
noun
Word origin
C13: probably from Old English druncnian; related to Old Norse drukna to be drowned
drown in American English
(draʊn)
verb intransitive
1.
to die by suffocation in water or other liquid
verb transitive
2.
to kill by suffocation in water or other liquid
3.
a.
to cover with water; flood; inundate
b.
to overwhelm
4.
to be so loud as to overcome (another sound)
usually with out
5.
to cause to disappear; get rid of
to drown one's worries in drink
Word origin
ME drounen, prob. < var. of ON drukna, drown, akin to OE druncnian, to become drunk, be drowned < druncen, pp. of drincan, drink
More idioms containing
drown
drown your sorrows
Quotations
I was much farther out than you thought And not waving but drowningStevie SmithNot Waving But Drowning
In other languages
drown
British English: drown /draʊn/ VERB
When someone drowns, or when they are drowned, they die because they have gone under water and cannot breathe.
Forty-eight people drowned after their boat capsized.
He walked into the sea and drowned himself.
American English: drown
Arabic: يَغْرَقُ
Brazilian Portuguese: afogar
Chinese: 溺水
Croatian: utopiti se
Czech: utopit (se)
Danish: drukne
Dutch: verdrinken
European Spanish: ahogar
Finnish: hukkua
French: se noyer
German: ertrinken
Greek: πνίγω
Italian: affogare
Japanese: 溺死する
Korean: 익사하다
Norwegian: drukne
Polish: utopić się
European Portuguese: afogar
Romanian: a îneca
Russian: тонуть
Latin American Spanish: ahogar
Swedish: drunkna
Thai: จมน้ำ
Turkish: suda boğulmak
Ukrainian: тонути
Vietnamese: chết đuối
Chinese translation of 'drown'
drown
(draun)
vt
(deliberately)[person, animal]使淹死 (shǐ yānsǐ)
to be drowned被淹死 (bèi yānsǐ)
[sound, voice] (also drown out) 淹没(沒) (yānmò)
vi
[person, animal]溺死 (nìsǐ)
1 (verb)
Definition
to die or kill by immersion in liquid
He drowned during a storm.
Synonyms
go down
They went down 2-1 to Australia.
go under
If one firm goes under it could provoke a cascade of bankruptcies.
go to a watery grave
go to Davy Jones's locker
die under water
2 (verb)
Definition
to drench thoroughly
The country would be drowned in blood.
Synonyms
drench
They turned fire hoses on the people and drenched them.
flood
The house was flooded.
soak
Soak the soil around each bush with at least 4 gallons of water.
steep
green beans steeped in olive oil
swamp
saturate
If the filter has been saturated with motor oil, discard it.
engulf
The flat was engulfed in flames.
submerge
The river burst its banks, submerging an entire village.
immerse
inundate
Their neighbourhood is being inundated by the rising waters.
deluge
Torrential rain deluged the capital.
3 (verb)
Definition
to make (a sound) impossible to hear by making a loud noise
His words were soon drowned by amplified police sirens.
Synonyms
overwhelm
One massive assault would overwhelm the weakened enemy.
overcome
the satisfaction of overcoming a rival
wipe out
overpower
I was so overpowered by shame that I was unable to speak.
obliterate
I would like to obliterate the memory of what just occurred.
swallow up
be louder than
Quotation
I was much farther out than you thought And not waving but drowning [Stevie Smith – Not Waving But Drowning]