drown
drown /dr'aʊn/ (drowns drowning drowned)
1 [VERB] V, be V-ed, V pron-refl, V-ing
When someone drowns or is drowned, they die because they have gone or been pushed under water and cannot breathe.
A child can drown in only a few inches of water...
Last night a boy was drowned in the river...
He walked into the sea and drowned himself...
Dolphins have sometimes been known to save drowning swimmers.
2 [VERB] V in n, be V-ed
If you say that a person or thing is drowning in something, you are emphasizing that they have a very large amount of it, or are completely covered in it.
...people who gradually find themselves drowning in debt...
The potatoes were drowned in chilli.
3 [VERB] V n
If something drowns a sound, it is so loud that you cannot hear that sound properly.
Clapping drowned the speaker's words for a moment...
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
Drown out means the same as drown.
Their cheers drowned out the protests of demonstrators...
4 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you say that someone is drowning their sorrows, you mean that they are drinking alcohol in order to forget something sad or upsetting that has happened to them.
1 [VERB] V, be V-ed, V pron-refl, V-ing
When someone drowns or is drowned, they die because they have gone or been pushed under water and cannot breathe.
A child can drown in only a few inches of water...
Last night a boy was drowned in the river...
He walked into the sea and drowned himself...
Dolphins have sometimes been known to save drowning swimmers.
2 [VERB] V in n, be V-ed
If you say that a person or thing is drowning in something, you are emphasizing that they have a very large amount of it, or are completely covered in it.
...people who gradually find themselves drowning in debt...
The potatoes were drowned in chilli.
3 [VERB] V n
If something drowns a sound, it is so loud that you cannot hear that sound properly.
Clapping drowned the speaker's words for a moment...
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
Drown out means the same as drown.
Their cheers drowned out the protests of demonstrators...
4 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you say that someone is drowning their sorrows, you mean that they are drinking alcohol in order to forget something sad or upsetting that has happened to them.