drown
verb
Simple meaning
Die from being submerged in water, getting water into the lungs.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
drownIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdɹaʊn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Die from being submerged in water, getting water into the lungs, and asphyxiating
“The child drowned in the lake.”
intransitive
To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid.
Kill by submerging in water
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.
transitivefigurative
To inundate, submerge, overwhelm.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Die from being submerged in water, getting water into the lungs, and asphyxiating
Used this way, drown is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The child drowned in the lake.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “drown in …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: drown in …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use drown
- “The child drowned in the lake.”verb
- “She drowned her trouble in alcohol.”verb
- “The divers saved the drowning child.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Word Family
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Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.