DRAIN • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Drain

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/dreɪn/ Listen

noun

Drain n.

1.

The act of draining, or of drawing off; gradual and continuous outflow or withdrawal; as, the drain of specie from a country; the project is a drain on resources.

2.

That means of which anything is drained; a channel; a trench; a water course; a sewer; a sink.

3.

pl. The grain from the mashing tub; as, brewers' drains. (Eng.)

Box drain, Counter drain. See under Box, Counter.

Right of drain (Law), an easement or servitude by which one man has a right to convey water in pipes through or over the estate of another.

verb

Drain v. t. (past & past part. drained; pres. part. draining)

1.

To draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to cause the exhaustion of. "Fountains drain the water from the ground adjacent." "But it was not alone that the he drained their treasure and hampered their industry."

2.

To exhaust of liquid contents by drawing them off; to make gradually dry or empty; to remove surface water, as from streets, by gutters, etc.; to deprive of moisture; hence, to exhaust; to empty of wealth, resources, or the like; as, to drain a country of its specie. "Sinking waters, the firm land to drain, Filled the capacious deep and formed the main."

3.

To filter. "Salt water, drained through twenty vessels of earth, hath become fresh."

Drain v. i.

1.

To flow gradually; as, the water of low ground drains off.

2.

To become emptied of liquor by flowing or dropping; as, let the vessel stand and drain.

See images of 'Drain'

Etymology of 'Drain'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Drain" Quotes from Famous Books

... "some brainless lad, Some scion of ancient Tories, Bob Acres, sent to Oxford ad Emolliendos mores, Meant but to drain the festive glass And win the athlete's pewter!" There you are wrong: this ...

— Lyra Frivola • A. D. Godley

... infinitely better, And there are gems in ev'ry letter. The only fault I have with Barnack Is that it rhymes with Dr. HARNACK; Barbon, Beluncle Halt, Bodorgan Resound like chords upon the organ, And there's a spirit blithe and merry In Evercreech and Egloskerry. Park Drain and Counter Drain, I'm sure, Are hygienically pure, But when aesthetically viewed They seem to me a little crude. I often long to visit Frant, Hose, Little Kimble and Lelant; And, if I had sufficient dollars, Sibley's (for Chickney) and Neen Sollars; ...

— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, February 16, 1916 • Various

... replied Huish. 'I like Attwater. 'E's all right; we got on like one o'clock when you were gone. And ain't his sherry in it, rather? It's like Spiers and Ponds' Amontillado! I wish I 'ad a drain of it now.' ...

— The Ebb-Tide - A Trio And Quartette • Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne

... cheese: Three-fourths cup macaroni broken in pieces; two quarts boiling water; one-half table-spoonful salt. Cook macaroni in salted water twenty minutes, or longer if necessary to make it tender; drain. Put layer of macaroni in buttered baking dish; sprinkle with cheese, and repeat, making the last or top layer of cheese. Pour in milk to almost cover. Put into oven and bake until the top layer ...

— Maintaining Health • R. L. Alsaker

... been set by the side of a drain for rats, and the weasel coming out, or perhaps frightened by footsteps, and hastening carelessly, had been trapped. Bevis, biting his apple, looked at the weasel, and the weasel said: "Sir Bevis, please let me out, this gin hurts me so; the teeth are very sharp and the spring ...

— Wood Magic - A Fable • Richard Jefferies

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