drown

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To drown means to die from being underwater or to become completely overwhelmed by something.

When we talk about drowning, it's often about someone who can't swim getting too far out into water and not being able to breathe. This can happen at a beach, pool, or lake, especially if there are strong currents or waves. If you're swimming and feel yourself getting tired, it's a good idea to go back to shore with some help from friends or lifeguards.

The word 'drown' can also mean being overwhelmed by something like work, problems, or emotions. Imagine feeling so stressed that you just can't keep up anymore – this is a kind of emotional drowning. It might feel like everything is too much and you're not sure how to deal with it all.

In addition, the word 'drown' can be used as an adjective to describe something like a sound that is completely muffled or covered by something else. For example, "The music drowned out the voices in the background." This use of the word helps us understand that drowning is not just about water – it's also about being swallowed up by something bigger than ourselves.

How common is "drown"?

Word drown is considered uncommon in modern English.
It appears most frequently in fiction texts and less often in other writings.

Definitions

verb

(intransitive) To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid.
Example: When I was a baby, I nearly drowned in the bathtub.
(transitive) To kill by suffocating in water or another liquid.
Example: The car thief fought with an officer and tried to drown a police dog before being shot while escaping.
(intransitive) To be flooded: to be inundated with or submerged in (literally) water or (figuratively) other things; to be overwhelmed.
Example: We are drowning in information but starving for wisdom.
(transitive, figurative) To inundate, submerge, overwhelm.
Example: He drowns his sorrows in buckets of chocolate ice cream.
(transitive, figurative, usually passive voice) To obscure, particularly amid an overwhelming volume of other items.
Example: The answers intelligence services seek are often drowned in the flood of information they can now gather.