Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - drown

(drowns, drowning, drowned) 1. 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. VERB: V, be V-ed, V pron-refl, V-ing 2. 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. VERB: V in n, be V-ed c darkgreen]emphasis 3. 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... VERB: V n • Drown out means the same as drown. Their cheers drowned out the protests of demonstrators... PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron) 4. 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. PHRASE: V inflects