drain

[dreyn] /dreɪn/
verb (used with object)
1.
to withdraw or draw off (a liquid) gradually; remove slowly or by degrees, as by filtration:
to drain oil from a crankcase.
2.
to withdraw liquid gradually from; make empty or dry by drawing off liquid:
to drain a crankcase.
3.
to exhaust the resources of:
to drain the treasury.
4.
to deprive of strength; tire.
verb (used without object)
5.
to flow off gradually.
6.
to become empty or dry by the gradual flowing off of liquid or moisture:
This land drains into the Mississippi.
noun
7.
something, as a pipe or conduit, by which a liquid drains.
8.
Surgery. a material or appliance for maintaining the opening of a wound to permit free exit of fluids.
9.
gradual or continuous outflow, withdrawal, or expenditure.
10.
something that causes a large or continuous outflow, expenditure, or depletion:
Medical expenses were a major drain on his bank account.
11.
an act of draining.
12.
Physical Geography.
  1. an artificial watercourse, as a ditch or trench.
  2. a natural watercourse modified to increase its flow of water.
Idioms
13.
go down the drain,
  1. to become worthless or profitless.
  2. to go out of existence; disappear.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English dreynen, Old English drēhnian, drēahnian to strain, filter; akin to dry
Related forms
drainable, adjective
drainer, noun
overdrain, verb
undrainable, adjective
undrained, adjective
well-drained, adjective
Examples from the web for drain
  • Remove from the oil and drain on absorbent paper towels.
  • Pour milk and butter into strainer and let drain briefly.
  • Then, remove the hose and let the excess fluid in the hose drain back into the source.
  • drain through a strainer, and rinse until the water runs clear.
  • When the current applied by the gate is high enough, electrons flow through the channel between the source and drain electrodes.
  • The gate controls the flow of current through the channel from a source electrode to a drain electrode.
  • Remove them from the oil and drain them on a paper towel-lined sheet tray.
  • drain opening agents are chemicals used to open clogged drains, often in homes.
  • They immediately halted the discharges and began installing piping to drain the water into the sanitary sewer.
  • Overall, the brain drain actually helps poor countries.
British Dictionary definitions for drain

drain

/dreɪn/
noun
1.
a pipe or channel that carries off water, sewage, etc
2.
an instance or cause of continuous diminution in resources or energy; depletion
3.
(surgery) a device, such as a tube, for insertion into a wound, incision, or bodily cavity to drain off pus, etc
4.
(electronics) the electrode region in a field-effect transistor into which majority carriers flow from the interelectrode conductivity channel
5.
down the drain, wasted
verb
6.
(transitive) often foll by off. to draw off or remove (liquid) from: to drain water from vegetables, to drain vegetables
7.
(intransitive) often foll by away. to flow (away) or filter (off)
8.
(intransitive) to dry or be emptied as a result of liquid running off or flowing away: leave the dishes to drain
9.
(transitive) to drink the entire contents of (a glass, cup, etc)
10.
(transitive) to consume or make constant demands on (resources, energy, etc); exhaust; sap
11.
(intransitive) to disappear or leave, esp gradually: the colour drained from his face
12.
(transitive) (of a river, etc) to carry off the surface water from (an area)
13.
(intransitive) (of an area) to discharge its surface water into rivers, streams, etc
Derived Forms
drainable, adjective
Word Origin
Old English drēahnian; related to Old Norse drangr dry wood; see dry
Word Origin and History for drain
v.

Old English dreahnian "to drain, strain out," from Proto-Germanic *dreug-, source of drought, dry, giving the English word originally a sense of "make dry." Figurative meaning of "exhaust" is attested from 1650s. The word is not found in surviving texts between late Old English and the 1500s. Related: Drained; draining.

n.

1550s, from drain (v.).

drain in Medicine

drain (drān)
n.
A device, such as a tube, inserted into the opening of a wound or into a body or dental cavity to facilitate discharge of fluid or purulent material. v. drained, drain·ing, drains
To draw off a liquid gradually as it forms.

Slang definitions & phrases for drain

drain

Related Terms

brain drain, down the tube, pour money down the drain


drain in Technology

jargon
(IBM) To allow a system to complete the processing of its current work before the system becomes unavailable. E.g. draining a device before taking it off-line or telling a web server in a server farm not to accept any new requests but to finish processing any requests it has already accepted.
[Jargon File]
(2005-07-18)

Idioms and Phrases with drain

drain

see: