Library / English Dictionary

DRAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Emptying something accomplished by allowing liquid to run out of it

Synonyms:

drain; drainage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("drain" is a kind of...):

emptying; evacuation; voidance (the act of removing the contents of something)

Derivation:

drain (empty of liquid; drain the liquid from)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A gradual depletion of energy or resources

Example:

a drain of young talent by emigration

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("drain" is a kind of...):

depletion (the act of decreasing something markedly)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "drain"):

drawing; drawing off (act of getting or draining something such as electricity or a liquid from a source)

brain drain (depletion or loss of intellectual and technical personnel)

Derivation:

drain (deplete of resources)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A pipe through which liquid is carried away

Synonyms:

drain; drainpipe; waste pipe

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("drain" is a kind of...):

pipage; pipe; piping (a long tube made of metal or plastic that is used to carry water or oil or gas etc.)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "drain"):

culvert (a transverse and totally enclosed drain under a road or railway)

scupper (drain that allows water on the deck of a vessel to flow overboard)

cloaca; sewer; sewerage (a waste pipe that carries away sewage or surface water)

soil pipe (drain that conveys liquid waste from toilets, etc.)

trap (drain consisting of a U-shaped section of drainpipe that holds liquid and so prevents a return flow of sewer gas)

Derivation:

drain (empty of liquid; drain the liquid from)

drain (flow off gradually)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Tube inserted into a body cavity (as during surgery) to remove unwanted material

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("drain" is a kind of...):

tube; tubing (conduit consisting of a long hollow object (usually cylindrical) used to hold and conduct objects or liquids or gases)

Domain category:

surgery (the branch of medical science that treats disease or injury by operative procedures)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make weak

Example:

Life in the camp drained him

Synonyms:

debilitate; drain; enfeeble

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "drain" is one way to...):

weaken (lessen the strength of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "drain"):

emaciate; macerate; waste (cause to grow thin or weak)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to drain Sue

Sense 2

Meaning:

Empty of liquid; drain the liquid from

Example:

We drained the oil tank

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "drain" is one way to...):

empty (make void or empty of contents)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They drain the water

Derivation:

drain (emptying something accomplished by allowing liquid to run out of it)

drain (a pipe through which liquid is carried away)

drainage (emptying something accomplished by allowing liquid to run out of it)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Deplete of resources

Example:

The exercise class drains me of energy

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "drain" is one way to...):

consume; deplete; eat; eat up; exhaust; run through; use up; wipe out (use up (resources or materials))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

drain (a gradual depletion of energy or resources)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Flow off gradually

Example:

The rain water drains into this big vat

Synonyms:

drain; run out

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "drain" is one way to...):

course; feed; flow; run (move along, of liquids)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sentence example:

The water drains

Derivation:

drain (a pipe through which liquid is carried away)

drainage (emptying something accomplished by allowing liquid to run out of it)

Credits

 Context examples: 

With enough time, escaping plasmoids can drain the ions from a planet's atmosphere, fundamentally changing its composition.

(The ice giant Uranus appears to be losing a bit of its atmosphere to space, NASA)

A vein that drains blood from a specific area of the skin.

(Cutaneous Vein, NCI Thesaurus)

It is certainly an unpleasant thing, replied Mr. Dashwood, to have those kind of yearly drains on one's income.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

A superficial vein that is located on the cerebellum and that drains the cerebellum.

(Cerebellar Vein, NCI Thesaurus)

A small flexible tube inserted into a body cavity for draining off fluid or introducing medication.

(Cannula Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

The veins within the hepatic lobes that drain blood from the liver sinusoids into the hepatic vein.

(Central Vein, NCI Thesaurus)

Any of the external or internal veins that drain the cerebral hemispheres.

(Cerebral Vein, NCI Thesaurus)

A process used to drain fluid that has built up around the brain and spinal cord.

(Cerebrospinal fluid diversion, NCI Dictionary)

A form of ACTINOMYCOSIS characterized by slow-growing inflammatory lesions of the lymph nodes that drain the mouth (lumpy jaw), reddening of the overlying skin, and intraperitoneal abscesses.

(Cervicofacial Actinomycotic Infection, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A therapeutic procedure used to drain excessive fluid from the central nervous system.

(Cerebrospinal fluid diversion, NCI Thesaurus)