/dɹeɪn/, /dɹiːn/
OriginFrom Middle English dreinen, from Old English drēahnian (“to drain, strain, filter”), from Proto-Germanic *drauhnōną (“to strain, sieve”), from Proto-Germanic *draugiz (“dry, parched”). Akin to Old English drūgian (“to dry up”), Old English drūgaþ (“dryness, drought”), Old English drȳġe (“dry”). More at dry.
- Canada, USA conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume; a plughole (UK)
“The drain in the kitchen sink is clogged.”
“An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex. The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados an”
- UKAn access point or conduit for rainwater that drains directly downstream in a (drainage) basin without going through sewers or water treatment in order to prevent or belay floods.
- A natural or artificial watercourse which drains a tract of land.
“Saganing Drain, Vermuyden's Drain, the South Drain river, Najafgarh drain”
“[…] the little runs and drains, that come through the hills, and to the sources of the creeks and their branches.”
“The main drain of the country is the Walé nullah, which afterwards joins the Southern Ngombé and forms part of the system of the Malagarazi.”
- Something consuming resources and providing nothing in return.
“That rental property is a drain on our finances.”
- One terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).
- An outhole.
- UK, dated, slangA drink.
“When the play was over, we came out together, and I said, "We've been very companionable and agreeable, and perhaps you wouldn't object to a drain?"”
“What did she want with money, except now and then for a drain of white satin.”
- intransitiveTo lose liquid.
“The clogged sink drained slowly.”
“Knock knock. / Who’s there? / Dwayne. / Dwayne who? / Drain the bathtub, I’m drowning.”
- intransitiveTo flow gradually.
“The water of low ground drains off.”
- ergative, transitiveTo cause liquid to flow out of.
“Please drain the sink. It’s full of dirty water.”
- ergative, transitiveTo convert a perennially wet place into a dry one.
“They had to drain the swampy land before the parking lot could be built.”
- transitiveTo deplete of energy or resources.
“The stress of this job is really draining me.”
- transitiveTo draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust.
“Fountains drain the water from the ground adjacent.”
“At leaſt, I'm ſure I can fiſh it out of her. She's the very Sluce to her Lady's Secrets;—'Tis but ſetting her Mill agoing, and I can drein her of 'em all.”
“But it was not alone that he drained their treasure and hampered their industry.”
- obsolete, transitiveTo filter.
“Salt water, drained through twenty vessels of earth, hath become fresh.”
- intransitiveTo fall off the bottom of the playfield.
“When a ball finally drains, it's gulped down by a giant gator beneath the set of flippers.”
- archaic, slang, transitiveTo drink.
“But when I strove my flame to tell, / Says she, 'Come, stow that patter, / If you're a cove wot likes a gal, / Vy don't you stand some gatter?' / In course I instantly complied— / Two brimming quarts ”
- slang, transitiveTo make a shot.
- A surname.
- A city in Douglas County, Oregon, United States.
Formsdrains(plural) · drein(alternative, obsolete) · dreen(alternative, Appalachia) · drains(present, singular, third-person) · draining(participle, present) · drained(participle, past) · drained(past) · drein(alternative) · Drains(plural)