drown

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To die from being unable to breathe under water.

   The child fell into the lake and nearly drowned.

2. 2
   verb

   To kill someone by holding them under water.

   In the story, the witch tries to drown her victims in the river.

3. 3
   verb

   To cover or fill something completely with liquid, or with too much of something.

   We are drowning in information but starving for wisdom.

4. 4
   verb

   To try to forget your problems by doing something, especially drinking.

   He drowned his sorrows in beer after losing his job.

Multiword verbs with drown

• drown out Phrasal verb B1

  to make a sound impossible to hear by producing a louder sound

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Drown is first recorded in Middle English but probably existed in Old English as a northern form. It is related to Old Scandinavian drukkna, “to be drowned,” and ultimately shares a root with drink.

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…

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary