drown
verb/draʊn/
/draʊn/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they drown | /draʊn/ /draʊn/ |
| he / she / it drowns | /draʊnz/ /draʊnz/ |
| past simple drowned | /draʊnd/ /draʊnd/ |
| past participle drowned | /draʊnd/ /draʊnd/ |
| -ing form drowning | /ˈdraʊnɪŋ/ /ˈdraʊnɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] to die because you have been underwater too long and you cannot breathe; to kill somebody by holding them underwater
- Two children drowned after falling into the river.
- He had attempted to rescue the drowning man.
- drown somebody/something/yourself She tried to drown herself.
- They had drowned the unwanted kittens.
- be drowned He was drowned at sea.
Extra Examples- The ship's captain refused to leave them to drown.
- They were commended for saving a four-year-old from drowning.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- [transitive] drown something (in something) to make something very wet; to completely cover something in water or another liquid synonym drench
- The fruit was drowned in cream.
- [transitive] drown somebody/something (out) (of a sound) to be louder than other sounds so that you cannot hear them
- She turned up the radio to drown out the noise from next door.
- His words were drowned out by jeers and whistling.
Word OriginMiddle English (originally northern): related to Old Norse drukkna ‘to be drowned’, also to drink.
Idioms
See drown in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarybe drowning in something
- to have so much of something that you cannot deal with it
- We're drowning in applications so please don't write in.
drown your fears/loneliness/sorrows, etc.
- to get drunk in order to forget your problems
Check pronunciation:
drown