drowned

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of drown.

   Dozens of villagers drowned in the sudden flood that swept through the valley.

   The kitten would have drowned if a passerby had not pulled it from the canal.

   Note

   A single spelling serves two different constructions. She drowned uses the intransitive verb: she died in the water. She was drowned is the passive of the transitive one, which strictly says something or someone killed her, though speakers apply both to the same accident. The form also carries the figurative senses, as in a valley drowned by floodwater or a voice drowned amid the noise.

2. 2
   adjective

   Having died as a result of being submerged in water and unable to breathe.

   Fishermen recovered the drowned man from the river the next morning.

   The drowned livestock floated across the flooded field after the levee broke.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2