drown

English

/dɹaʊn/

verb
Definitions
  • (intransitive) To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid.
  • (transitive) To kill by suffocating in water or another liquid.
  • (intransitive) To be flooded: to be inundated with or submerged in (literally) water or (figuratively) other things; to be overwhelmed.
  • (transitive) To inundate, submerge, overwhelm.
  • (transitive) To obscure, particularly amid an overwhelming volume of other items.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English drownen.

Origin

Middle English

drownen

Gloss

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms