DRAIN • DICTIONARY ONE.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

... as it came in and splashed out in a never-ending stream, and the rumble of the oil streams above them as the precious fluid flowed down into the plated drain roof, sounded like the tramp of the weary feet of the damned, as it echoed back and forth ...

— Astounding Stories of Super-Science, June, 1930 • Various

... was an old place, but certainly in the minds of those who now directed its affairs—was not to save its present congregation, but to gather a larger—ultimately that they might be saved, let us hope, but primarily that the drain upon the purses of those who were responsible for its rent and other outlays, might be lessened. Mr Masquar, therefore, to whom the post was a desirable one, had been mainly anxious that morning to prove his ...

— The Marquis of Lossie • George MacDonald

... dare no more look him in the face; but, as if they deified him by his royalty, among the oaths they make him take to maintain their religion and laws, to be valiant, just and mild; he moreover swears,—to make the sun run his course in his wonted light,—to drain the clouds at a fit season,—to confine rivers within their channels,—and to cause all things necessary for his people to be borne by the earth.' '(They told me I was everything. But when the rain came to wet me once, when the wind would not peace at my bidding,' says Lear, 'there ...

— The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakspere Unfolded • Delia Bacon

... animals. For complete data the experiments should be carried through the complete life cycle of the rat, including the reproductive period. Otherwise it may turn out that the amount in the unknown while apparently sufficient for normal growths is incapable of sustaining the drain made in reproduction. It is this consideration that makes the accumulation of authoritative data on vitamine contents of foodstuffs so slow and tedious and one of the reasons why we lack satisfactory tables in ...

— The Vitamine Manual • Walter H. Eddy

... stated in some of the Journals that Vidocq has a son named Julius, who was condemned to the galleys, and when liberated was employed by his father at Sainte Mande. This must be another bitter in his life's cup, which Vidocq seems condemned to drain ...

— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 14, - Issue 389, September 12, 1829 • Various

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