drought
/draʊt
/noun
1A prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water: the cause of Europe’s recent droughts [mass noun]: crops have failed because of drought...
- Chinese officials say cloud seeding has helped to relieve severe droughts and water shortages in cities.
- During climate extremes, whether droughts or flooding rains, those on the land feel it most.
- In fact, tropical storms or hurricanes have ended many droughts in Texas, and other parts of the world.
Synonyms
dry spell, dry period, lack of rain, shortage of water;
Scottish drouth
1.1 [usually with modifier] A prolonged absence of something specified: he ended a five-game goal drought...
- One can only hope that, after the relative goal drought of two years ago in Mali, they and the other 15 nations put on a more exciting spectacle.
- Robbie Blake curled a trademark free kick just wide and then slipped at the crucial moment when he seemed certain to end his worrying goal drought.
- Dennis Wise's glancing header ended the team's goal drought - spanning 588 minutes.
1.2 [mass noun] archaic Thirst.
Origin
Late Old English drūgath 'dryness', of Germanic origin; compare with Dutch droogte; related to dry.