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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

drain.

A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume; a plughole (UK)

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/dɹeɪn//dɹiːn/US, dialectal
  1. A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume; a plughole (UK)

    Canada · US
    The drain in the kitchen sink is clogged.
    bathtub drain; floor drain; shower drain; sink drain
  2. An 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.

    UK
  3. A natural or artificial watercourse which drains a tract of land.

    ;;Saganing Drain, Vermuyden's Drain, the South Drain river, Najafgarh drain
  4. Something consuming resources and providing nothing in return.

    That rental property is a drain on our finances.
  5. An act of urination.

    vulgar
  6. One terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).

  7. An outhole.

  8. A drink.

    UK · dated · slang
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-der. Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *draugiz Proto-Germanic *drauhnōną Proto-West Germanic *drauhnōn Old English drēahnian Middle English *dreinen English drain Inherited from Middle English *dreinen, from Old English drēahnian, from Proto-West Germanic *drauhnōn, from Proto-Germanic *drauhnōną, from *draugiz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ-, from *dʰer-. Akin to Old English drūgian (“to dry up”), Old English drūgaþ (“dryness, drought”), Old English drȳġe (“dry”). More at dry.

verb/dɹeɪn//dɹiːn/US, dialectal
  1. To lose liquid.

    intransitive
    The clogged sink drained slowly.
    Knock knock. / Who’s there? / Dwayne. / Dwayne who? / Drain the bathtub, I’m drowning.
  2. To flow gradually.

    intransitive
    The water of low ground drains off.
  3. To cause liquid to flow out of.

    ergative · transitive
    Please drain the sink. It’s full of dirty water.
  4. To convert a perennially wet place into a dry one.

    ergative · transitive
    They had to drain the swampy land before the parking lot could be built.
  5. To deplete of energy or resources.

    transitive
    The stress of this job is really draining me.
  6. To draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust.

    transitive
  7. To filter.

    obsolete · transitive
  8. To fall off the bottom of the playfield.

    intransitive
  9. To drink.

    archaic · slang · transitive
  10. To make a shot.

    slang · transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-der. Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *draugiz Proto-Germanic *drauhnōną Proto-West Germanic *drauhnōn Old English drēahnian Middle English *dreinen English drain Inherited from Middle English *dreinen, from Old English drēahnian, from Proto-West Germanic *drauhnōn, from Proto-Germanic *drauhnōną, from *draugiz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ-, from *dʰer-. Akin to Old English drūgian (“to dry up”), Old English drūgaþ (“dryness, drought”), Old English drȳġe (“dry”). More at dry.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.