drown

verb

DROWN/dɹaʊn/

5 meanings of drown

1
verbintransitive
To die under water because you cannot get air to breathe.
People can drown in only a few inches of water.
Two swimmers nearly drowned in the strong current last summer.
Note
2
verbtransitive
To kill a person, animal, or plant by covering it with too much water or other liquid.
You can drown a houseplant by watering it too often.
The flood drowned dozens of sheep in the low fields.
3
verbfigurativelytransitive
To completely cover or fill someone or something with too much of one thing.
Like getting so many presents at once that you cannot open them all.
Don't drown the new student with rules on her first day.
Holiday orders drowned the tiny bakery in extra work last December.
Similaroverwhelm, swamp, inundate, engulf, flood
Note
4
verbintransitive
To be covered with too much water, or to have far more of something than you can handle.
The little garden drowned after a week of nonstop rain.
New parents often drown in laundry and dishes.
Similarsink
Note
5
verbfigurativelytransitive
To make something hard to hear or notice because there is too much else happening around it.
Like one small voice in a room full of shouting people.
The loud music drowned their quiet conversation.
Cheering crowds often drown the coach's instructions.
Similarmuffle, smother, overpower, obscure, bury
Note

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English drownen, whose exact origin is unclear. It is linked to Old English words and may have been influenced by Old Norse drukkna, meaning "to drown."