drown
English · Thesaurus
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drown¹
- /dɹaʊn/
- [d̠͡ɹ̠˔ʷaʊn]
- /dɹuːn/ Northumbria
Rhymes with -aʊn
Where it comes from
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.
verb drowns · drowning · drowned
-
To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid.
When I was a baby, I nearly drowned in the bathtub.
Similar: drench
- To kill by suffocating in water or another liquid. The car thief fought with an officer and tried to drown a police dog before being shot while escaping.
- To be flooded: to be inundated with or submerged in (literally) water or (figuratively) other things; to be overwhelmed. We are drowning in information but starving for wisdom.
- To inundate, submerge, overwhelm. He drowns his sorrows in buckets of chocolate ice cream.
- To obscure, particularly amid an overwhelming volume of other items. The answers intelligence services seek are often drowned in the flood of information they can now gather.
Drown²
proper noun Drowns
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: submerge, overwhelm, plunge, sink, shed, flow, inundate, dive, stifle, suffocate, flood, saturate, hide, dilute, swamp, mask
Translations
Every language
verb to be suffocated in fluid
| Español | ahogarse, afogarse |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 물에 뼈져 죽다 mure ppyeojeo jukda |
| 日本語 | 溺れる oboreru, 水死する suishi suru, 溺死する dekishi suru |
| 中文 | 溺水 nìshuǐ, 淹死 yānsǐ, 溺死 nìsǐ |
| हिन्दी | डूबना ḍūbnā |
| Português | afogar-se |
| Français | se noyer |
| Deutsch | ertrinken |
| Italiano | affogare, annegare |
| Ελληνικά | πνίγομαι pnígomai |
| Română | îneca |
| Русский | тону́ть tonútʹ, утону́ть utonútʹ, потону́ть potonútʹ, утопа́ть utopátʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | dìm |
| العربية | غَرِقَ ḡariqa |
| עברית | טָבַע tavá' |
verb to deprive of life by immersion in liquid
| Español | ahogar, afogar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 溺らす oborasu |
| 中文 | 把...淹死 bǎ...yānsǐ |
| हिन्दी | डुबाना ḍubānā |
| Português | afogar |
| Français | noyer |
| Deutsch | ertränken |
| Italiano | affogare, annegare |
| Ελληνικά | πνίγω pnígo |
| Română | îneca |
| Русский | топи́ть topítʹ, утопи́ть utopítʹ, потопля́ть potopljátʹ, потопи́ть potopítʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | chết đuối |
| العربية | أَغْرَقَ ʔaḡraqa |
| עברית | הטביע hitbía' |
verb to overwhelm in water
| Italiano | affogare, sommergere |
|---|---|
| Русский | затопля́ть zatopljátʹ, затопи́ть zatopítʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | đuối nước |
| עברית | טבע tabá |
verb to overpower
| 日本語 | 圧倒する attō suru |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | überwältigen |
| Italiano | coprire |
| Русский | заглуша́ть zaglušátʹ, заглуши́ть zaglušítʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | nhấn chìm |
Talk about this word "drown." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/drown. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. drown. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/drown "drown." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/drown.Cite this
@misc{drown_2026,
title = {drown},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/drown},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
