drown

drown
\ \ [13] Drown is not found in texts until the end of the 13th century (when it began to replace the related drench in the sense ‘suffocate in water’) but an Old English verb *drūnian could well have existed. The earliest occurrences of the word are from the North of England and Scotland, which suggests a possible borrowing from, or influence of, Old Norse druknabe drowned’; this came ultimately from Germanic *drungk-, a variant of the base which produced English drink.
\ \ Cf.DRENCH, DRINK

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • drown — [draun] v [Date: 1200 1300; Origin: Probably from a Scandinavian language] 1.) [I and T] to die from being under water for too long, or to kill someone in this way ▪ Many people drowned when the boat overturned. ▪ Jane was drowned in the river.… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • drown´er — drown «drown», intransitive verb. to die under water or other liquid because of lack of air to breathe: »The fisherman almost drowned when his boat overturned. –v.t. 1. to kill by keeping under water or other liquid: »The flood drowned all the… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Drown — Drown, v. t. 1. To overwhelm in water; to submerge; to inundate. They drown the land. Dryden. [1913 Webster] 2. To deprive of life by immersion in water or other liquid. [1913 Webster] 3. To overpower; to overcome; to extinguish; said especially… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • drown — [ draun ] verb ** 1. ) intransitive to sink under water and die: He fell overboard and nearly drowned. a ) transitive to kill someone by pushing them under water 2. ) transitive to cover something completely with a liquid, especially in a way… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • drown — ► VERB 1) die or kill through submersion in water. 2) submerge or flood (an area). 3) (usu. drown out) make inaudible by being much louder. ● drown one s sorrows Cf. ↑drown one s sorrows ORIG …   English terms dictionary

  • Drown — Drown, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Drowned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Drowning}.] [OE. drunen, drounen, earlier drunknen, druncnien, AS. druncnian to be drowned, sink, become drunk, fr. druncen drunken. See {Drunken}, {Drink}.] To be suffocated in water or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • drown — [droun] vi. [ME drounen, prob. < var. of ON drukna, drown, akin to OE druncnian, to become drunk, be drowned < druncen, pp. of drincan, DRINK] to die by suffocation in water or other liquid vt. 1. to kill by suffocation in water or other… …   English World dictionary

  • drown — drau̇n vb, drowned drau̇nd drown·ing drau̇ niŋ vi 1) to suffocate in water or some other liquid 2) to suffocate because of excess of body fluid that interferes with the passage of oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues (as in pulmonary edema)… …   Medical dictionary

  • drown — drown; drown·proof·ing; …   English syllables

  • drown — index immerse (plunge into), overcome (overwhelm), stifle Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • drown — (v.) c.1300, trans. and intrans., perhaps from an unrecorded derivative word of O.E. druncnian (M.E. druncnen) be swallowed up by water (originally of ships as well as living things), probably from the base of drincan to drink. Modern form is… …   Etymology dictionary

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