name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
drown
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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droun
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/dɹaʊn/
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[d̠͡ɹ̠˔waʊn]
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Northumbria: /dɹuːn/
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rhymes with -aʊn
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CMU ARPABET: D R AW1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
verb
Meaning 2
To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Examples
- When I was a baby, I nearly drowned in the bathtub.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: drench
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To kill by suffocating in water or another liquid.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- The car thief fought with an officer and tried to drown a police dog before being shot while escaping.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: drench
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To be flooded: to be inundated with or submerged in (literally) water or (figuratively) other things; to be overwhelmed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Examples
- We are drowning in information but starving for wisdom.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To inundate, submerge, overwhelm.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, transitive
Examples
- He drowns his sorrows in buckets of chocolate ice cream.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To obscure, particularly amid an overwhelming volume of other items.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, transitive
Qualifier: usually passive voice
Examples
- The answers intelligence services seek are often drowned in the flood of information they can now gather.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
die from being submerged in water, getting water into the lungs, and asphyxiating
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The child drowned in the lake
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: die, decease, perish, go, exit, pass away, expire, pass, kick the bucket, cash in one's chips, buy the farm, conk, give-up the ghost, drop dead, pop off, choke, croak, snuff it
verb
Meaning 8
get rid of as if by submerging
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- She drowned her trouble in alcohol
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: extinguish, eliminate, get rid of, do away with
verb
Meaning 9
kill by submerging in water
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- He drowned the kittens
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: kill
verb
Meaning 10
cover completely or make imperceptible
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- I was drowned in work
- The noise drowned out her speech
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: submerge, overwhelm
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: cover, spread over
verb
Meaning 11
be covered with or submerged in a liquid
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the meat was swimming in a fatty gravy
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: swim
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: be
History
Etymology
From Middle English drownen, drounen, drunen (“to drown”), of obscure and uncertain origin. The OED suggests an unattested Old English form *drūnian. Harper 2001 points to Old English druncnian, ġedruncnian (> Middle English drunknen, dronknen (“to drown”)), "probably influenced" by Old Norse drukkna (cf. Icelandic drukkna, Danish drukne (“to drown”)). Funk & Wagnall's has 'of uncertain origin'. It has been theorised (see e.g. ODS) that it may represent a direct loan of Old Norse drukkna, but this is described by the OED as being "on phonetic and other grounds [...] highly improbable", unless one considers the possibility of an unattested variant in Old Norse *drunkna.
Across languages
Translations
221 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Afrikaans: verdrink — to be suffocated in fluid
- Afrikaans: versuip — to be suffocated in fluid
- Aklanon: eumos — to be suffocated in fluid
- Albanian: mbytem — to be suffocated in fluid
- Arabic: غَرِقَ (ḡariqa) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Arabic: غِرِق (ḡirig) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Armenian: խեղդվել (xeġdvel) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Armenian: ջրահեղձ լինել (ǰraheġj linel) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Asturian: afogar — to be suffocated in fluid
- Azerbaijani: boğulmaq — to be suffocated in fluid
- Belarusian: тану́ць (tanúcʹ) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Bengali: মজান (mojan) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Bulgarian: да́вя се (dávja se) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Bulgarian: уда́вям се (udávjam se) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Bulgarian: уда́вя се (udávja se) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Burmese: ရေနစ် (renac) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Catalan: ofegar-se — to be suffocated in fluid
- Catalan: negar-se — to be suffocated in fluid
- Cherokee: ᎠᎬᎦ (agvga) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Chinese Cantonese: 浸死 — to be suffocated in fluid
- Chinese Mandarin: 溺水 (nìshuǐ) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Chinese Mandarin: 淹死 (yānsǐ) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Chinese Mandarin: 溺死 (nìsǐ) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Ngazidja Comorian: hunwa — to be suffocated in fluid
- Czech: utopit se — to be suffocated in fluid
- Danish: drukne — to be suffocated in fluid
- Dutch: verdrinken — to be suffocated in fluid
- Dutch: verzuipen — to be suffocated in fluid
- Esperanto: droni — to be suffocated in fluid
- Finnish: hukkua — to be suffocated in fluid
- French: se noyer — to be suffocated in fluid
- West-Frisian: ferdrinke — to be suffocated in fluid
- Galician: afogar — to be suffocated in fluid
- German: ertrinken — to be suffocated in fluid
- Greek: πνίγομαι (pnígomai) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Ancient Greek: καταποντίζομαι (katapontízomai) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Ancient Greek: καταποντόομαι (katapontóomai) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Hausa: nutsar — to be suffocated in fluid
- Hebrew: טָבַע (tavá') — to be suffocated in fluid
- Hindi: डूबना (ḍūbnā) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Hungarian: fullad — to be suffocated in fluid
- Icelandic: drukkna — to be suffocated in fluid
- Indonesian: menenggelamkan — to be suffocated in fluid
- Ingrian: upota — to be suffocated in fluid
- Ingrian: hukkua — to be suffocated in fluid
- Irish: báigh — to be suffocated in fluid
- Italian: affogare — to be suffocated in fluid
- Italian: annegare — to be suffocated in fluid
- Japanese: 溺れる (oboreru) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Japanese: 水死する (suishi suru) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Japanese: 溺死する (dekishi suru) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Kannada: ಹಾಕುತ್ತದೆ (hākuttade) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Kapampangan: lumud — to be suffocated in fluid
- Khmer: លង់ទឹក (lngtuk) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Korean: 물에 뼈져 죽다 (mure ppyeojeo jukda) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Kyrgyz: чөгүү (cögüü) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Latgalian: sleikt — to be suffocated in fluid
- Latin: mergor — to be suffocated in fluid
- Latin: summergor — to be suffocated in fluid
- Latvian: slīkt — to be suffocated in fluid
- Latvian: noslīkt — to be suffocated in fluid
- Lithuanian: skęsti — to be suffocated in fluid
- Lombard: negà — to be suffocated in fluid
- Lombard: negar (annegar) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Macanese: afugâ — to be suffocated in fluid
- Macedonian: удави (udavi) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Malay: lemas — to be suffocated in fluid
- Malayalam: മുങ്ങിച്ചാവുക (muṅṅiccāvuka) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Malayalam: മുങ്ങിത്താഴുക (muṅṅittāḻuka) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Maltese: għereq — to be suffocated in fluid
- Manchu: ᠰᡝᠩᠰᡝᡵᡝᠮᠪᡳ (sengserembi) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Marathi: बुडणे (buḍṇe) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Mokilese: pwuhrla — to be suffocated in fluid
- Nepali: डुबा (ḍubā) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Norman: s'n'yer — to be suffocated in fluid
- Norwegian: drukne — to be suffocated in fluid
- Old English: ādrincan — to be suffocated in fluid
- Persian: فرورفتن (foruraftan) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Persian: فروشدن (forušodan) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Polabian: ai̯tüpi să — to be suffocated in fluid
- Polish: tonąć — to be suffocated in fluid
- Polish: utonąć — to be suffocated in fluid
- Portuguese: afogar-se — to be suffocated in fluid
- Punjabi: ਡੁੱਬ (ḍubba) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Romanian: îneca — to be suffocated in fluid
- Russian: тону́ть (tonútʹ) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Russian: утону́ть (utonútʹ) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Russian: потону́ть (potonútʹ) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Russian: утопа́ть (utopátʹ) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Samoan: malemo — to be suffocated in fluid
- Scottish Gaelic: bàth — to be suffocated in fluid
- Serbo-Croatian: utopiti — to be suffocated in fluid
- Slovak: utopit — to be suffocated in fluid
- Slovene: utopiti — to be suffocated in fluid
- Lower Sorbian: zalaś se — to be suffocated in fluid
- Upper Sorbian: so zatepić — to be suffocated in fluid
- Spanish: ahogarse — to be suffocated in fluid
- Spanish: afogarse — to be suffocated in fluid
- Sundanese: ngalelepkeun — to be suffocated in fluid
- Swedish: drunkna — to be suffocated in fluid
- Tagalog: malunod — to be suffocated in fluid
- Telugu: మునుగు (munugu) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Thai: จมน้ําตาย (jom naam dtaai) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Turkish: boğulmak — to be suffocated in fluid
- Ukrainian: тону́ти (tonúty) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Ukrainian: потопа́ти (potopáty) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Ukrainian: утопа́ти (utopáty) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Urdu: ڈوبنا (ḍūbnā) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Urdu: غرق ہونا (ġarq honā) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Vietnamese: dìm — to be suffocated in fluid
- Waray-Waray: na-lumos — to be suffocated in fluid
- Welsh: boddi — to be suffocated in fluid
- Yámana: tāpöna — to be suffocated in fluid
- Yiddish: דערטרינקען זיך (dertrinken zikh) — to be suffocated in fluid
- Zazaki: fetısyen — to be suffocated in fluid
- Zazaki: henıqyen — to be suffocated in fluid
- Arabic: أَغْرَقَ (ʔaḡraqa) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Arabic: غَرَّق (ḡarrag) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Armenian: խեղդել (xeġdel) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Azerbaijani: boğmaq — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Belarusian: тапі́ць (tapícʹ) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Bulgarian: да́вя (dávja) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Bulgarian: уда́вям (udávjam) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Bulgarian: уда́вя (udávja) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Catalan: ofegar — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Catalan: negar — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Chinese Mandarin: 把...淹死 (bǎ...yānsǐ) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Czech: utopit — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Czech: topit — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Danish: drukne — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Dutch: verdrinken — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Dutch: verzuipen — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Esperanto: dronigi — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Finnish: hukuttaa — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Finnish: hukuttautua — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- French: noyer — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- German: ertränken — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Greek: πνίγω (pnígo) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Ancient Greek: καταποντίζω (katapontízō) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Ancient Greek: καταποντόω (katapontóō) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Hebrew: הטביע (hitbía') — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Hindi: डुबाना (ḍubānā) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Hungarian: vízbe fojt — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Indonesian: tenggelam — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Irish: báigh — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Italian: affogare — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Italian: annegare — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Japanese: 溺らす (oborasu) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Latin: mergō — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Latin: summergō — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Lombard: negar (annegar) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Macanese: afugâ — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Malayalam: മുക്കിക്കൊല്ലുക (mukkikkolluka) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Malayalam: മുക്കിത്താഴ്ത്തുക (mukkittāḻttuka) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Manchu: ᠰᡝᠩᠰᡝᡵᡝᠪᡠᠮᠪᡳ (sengserebumbi) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Māori: tukupunga — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Norman: n'yer — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Old English: ādrenċan — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Plautdietsch: veseepen — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Polabian: ai̯tüpi să — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Polish: utopić — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Portuguese: afogar — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Romanian: îneca — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Russian: топи́ть (topítʹ) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Russian: утопи́ть (utopítʹ) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Russian: потопля́ть (potopljátʹ) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Russian: потопи́ть (potopítʹ) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Savosavo: duadua — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Scottish Gaelic: bàth — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Lower Sorbian: zalaś — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Upper Sorbian: zatepić — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Spanish: ahogar — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Spanish: afogar — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Swedish: dränka — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Tagalog: malunod — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Tagalog: lunurin — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Turkish: boğmak — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Ottoman Turkish: بوغمق (boğmak) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Ukrainian: топи́ти (topýty) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Ukrainian: потопля́ти (potopljáty) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Ukrainian: втопи́ти (vtopýty) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Ukrainian: утопи́ти (utopýty) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Urdu: ڈوبانا (ḍubānā) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Urdu: غرق کرنا (ġarq karnā) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Vietnamese: chết đuối — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Welsh: boddi — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Yiddish: דערטרינקען (dertrinken) — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Zazaki: fetısnen — to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
- Bulgarian: потапям (potapjam) — to overwhelm in water
- Bulgarian: заливам (zalivam) — to overwhelm in water
- Catalan: submergir — to overwhelm in water
- Czech: potopit — to overwhelm in water
- Dutch: overspoelen — to overwhelm in water
- Dutch: verdrinken — to overwhelm in water
- Dutch: verzuipen — to overwhelm in water
- Finnish: hukuttaa — to overwhelm in water
- Finnish: upottaa — to overwhelm in water
- Hebrew: טבע (tabá) — to overwhelm in water
- Ingrian: upottaa — to overwhelm in water
- Italian: affogare — to overwhelm in water
- Italian: sommergere — to overwhelm in water
- Old English: ādrenċan — to overwhelm in water
- Russian: затопля́ть (zatopljátʹ) — to overwhelm in water
- Russian: затопи́ть (zatopítʹ) — to overwhelm in water
- Swedish: dränka — to overwhelm in water
- Vietnamese: đuối nước — to overwhelm in water
- Zazaki: fetısyayen — to overwhelm in water
- Bulgarian: заглушавам (zaglušavam) — to overpower
- Czech: přehlušit — to overpower
- Dutch: overspoelen — to overpower
- Dutch: overweldigen — to overpower
- Finnish: hukuttaa — to overpower
- Finnish: peittää — to overpower
- German: überwältigen — to overpower
- Italian: coprire — to overpower
- Japanese: 圧倒する (attō suru) — to overpower
- Russian: заглуша́ть (zaglušátʹ) — to overpower
- Russian: заглуши́ть (zaglušítʹ) — to overpower
- Scottish Gaelic: bàth — to overpower
- Swedish: dränka — to overpower
- Vietnamese: nhấn chìm — to overpower