drown

A drowning man will clutch at a straw.

Prov. When you are desperate, you will look for anything that might help you, even if it cannot help you very much. Scott thinks this faith healer will cure his baldness. A drowning man will clutch at a straw.

See also: clutch, man, straw

drown (someone or an animal) in something

to cause someone or an animal to die of asphyxiation in a liquid. He accidentally drowned the cat in the bathtub. She drowned herself in the lake.

drown someone or something out

[for a sound] to be so loud that someone or something cannot be heard. The noise of the passing train drowned out our conversation. The train drowned us out.

See also: out

drown someone (or an animal) out

[for a flood] to drive someone or an animal away from home. The high waters almost drowned the farmers out last year. The water drowned out the fields.

See also: out

drown someone in something

Fig. to inundate someone with something. (See also drown in something.) I will drown you in money and fine clothes. Mike drowned the nightclub singer in fancy jewels and furs.

drown in something 

1. . Lit. to be asphyxiated in some liquid. Wouldn't you hate to drown in that nasty, smelly water? lam not choosy about what I don't want to drown in.

2. Fig. to experience an overabundance of something. We are just drowning in cabbage this year. Our garden is full of it. They were drowning in bills, not money to pay them with.

drown one's troubles and drown one's sorrows

Fig. to try to forget one's problems by drinking a lot of alcohol. Bill is in the bar, drowning his troubles. Jane is at home, drowning her sorrows.

See also: trouble

If you're born to be hanged, then you'll never be drowned.

Prov. If you escape one disaster, it must be because you are destined for a different kind of disaster. (Sometimes used to warn someone who has escaped drowning against gloating over good luck.) When their ship was trapped in a terrible storm, Ellen told her husband that she feared they would die. "Don't worry," he replied with a yawn, "if you're born to be hanged, then you'll never be drowned."

See also: born, if, never

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drown your sorrows

to drink a lot of alcohol because you want to stop feeling sad I've got a bottle of whiskey here - shall we stay in and drown our sorrows?

See also: sorrow

look like a drowned rat

to be very wet, especially because you have been in heavy rain I had to cycle home in the rain and came in looking like a drowned rat.

See also: like, look, rat

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drown your sorrows

to drink a lot of alcohol because you want to stop feeling sad Frank insisted that I accompany him to his house, where I could drown my sorrows.

Usage notes: sometimes said about eating or drinking something other than alcohol: I decided I'd drown my sorrows in a bucket of chocolate ice cream.

See also: sorrow

drown out something also drown something out

to make it impossible to hear something The plane was flying so low, the roar of its engines drowned out our conversation.

See also: out