Skip to content
APG.American
Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

drain

/dɹiːn/

Press play to hear how to pronounce drain.

American Pronunciation Guide · 1:03
Watch on YouTube ↗

What does drain mean?

noun

  1. A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume; a plughole (UK)
  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.
  3. A natural or artificial watercourse which drains a tract of land.
More meanings (17)

noun

  1. Something consuming resources and providing nothing in return.
  2. One terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).
  3. An outhole.
  4. (vulgar) An act of urination.
  5. (dated, slang) A drink.

verb

  1. To lose liquid.
  2. To flow gradually.
  3. To cause liquid to flow out of.
  4. To convert a perennially wet place into a dry one.
  5. To deplete of energy or resources.
  6. To draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust.
  7. To fall off the bottom of the playfield.
  8. (slang) To make a shot.
  9. (obsolete) To filter.
  10. (archaic, slang) To drink.

proper noun

  1. A surname.
  2. A city in Douglas County, Oregon, United States.
Wiktionary contributors Wiktionary contributors

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/dɹiːn/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Then he went to work and washed them all at once in the rainwater hogshead, and left them to drain dry.
L. M. (Lucy Maud) MontgomeryAnne of AvonleaProject Gutenberg ebook #47
Beneath this long, arched drain which terminated at the Arche-Marion, a perfectly preserved rag-picker’s basket excited the admiration of all connoisseurs.
Victor HugoLes MisérablesTranslated by Isabel Florence HapgoodProject Gutenberg ebook #135
More book examples (3)
Cut a cauliflower into quarters, blanch for a few minutes, drain, and put it into a saucepan with some bits of bacon.
W. G., Mrs. WatersThe Cook's Decameron A Study in Taste, Containing over Two Hundred Recipes for Italian DishesProject Gutenberg ebook #930
Underneath the wasp's brown paper manor house, the ground is channeled into a sort of drain for the refuse of the nest.
Jean-Henri FabreThe Life of the Fly; With Which are Interspersed Some Chapters of AutobiographyTranslated by Alexander Teixeira de MattosProject Gutenberg ebook #3422
I went in haste to the big canal and found it empty, and the well lowered to the mouth of the drain.
Edward Payson RoeSuccess with Small FruitsProject Gutenberg ebook #6117