drown

a drowning man will clutch at a straw

proverb Someone who is desperate will try to use anything for help, even if it is really no help at all. Facing the possibility that his marriage might be over, John began visiting psychics to help him decide what to do. A drowning man will clutch at a straw.
See also: clutch, drown, man, straw, will

a drowning man will grab at a straw

proverb Someone who is desperate enough will try anything to help their situation, even if it is really of no help at all. A: "I heard Jared is going to a psychic to help him figure out how to salvage his marriage." B: "Wow. A drowning man will grab at a straw, huh?"
See also: drown, grab, man, straw, will

a drowning man will grasp at a straw

proverb Someone who is desperate enough will try anything to help their situation, even if it is really of no help at all. A: "I heard Jared is going to a psychic to help him figure out how to salvage his marriage." B: "Wow. A drowning man will grasp at a straw, huh?"
See also: drown, grasp, man, straw, will

drown (one's) sorrow(s)

To attempt to forget one's troubles through the consumption of something, typically alcohol (to which the phrase originally referred). It's not healthy to just drown your sorrows every time a girl breaks up with you. Quit drinking and try to face reality. Whenever I have a hard week at work, I like to spend Friday night drowning my sorrow in pizza and ice cream.
See also: drown

drown (one's) troubles

To attempt to forget one's troubles through the consumption of something, typically alcohol (to which the phrase originally referred). It's not healthy to just drown your troubles every time a girl breaks up with you. Quit drinking and try to face reality. Whenever I have a hard week at work, I like to spend Friday night drowning my troubles in pizza and ice cream.
See also: drown, trouble

drown in (something)

1. Literally, to die from asphyxiation while submerged in a liquid. No one is drowning in the ocean today—not on this lifeguard's watch!
2. To cause oneself, someone, or something die from asphyxiation while submerged in a liquid. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "drown" and "in." Virginia Woolf's writing career came to an end in 1941 when she drowned herself in the River Ouse.
3. To overwhelm someone with an abundance of something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "drown" and "in." I don't mean to drown you in paperwork, but I do need all of these documents filed today.
4. To be completely overwhelmed by the abundance of something. I need one of those interns to help me file today because I'm totally drowning in paperwork.
See also: drown

drown in self-pity

To be entirely consumed by sorrow, self-deprecation, or other negative emotions to the point of self-indulgence and/or paralysis. It's hard to help someone who would rather drown in self-pity than find a solution to their problems.
See also: drown

drown out

1. To force someone out of one's home, often due to flooding. A noun or pronoun can be used between "drown" and "out." Unfortunately, that hurricane drowned us out, and we've been staying with relatives ever since.
2. To use or create a louder noise to make a different, often unpleasant, noise less audible. A noun or pronoun can be used between "drown" and "out." I immediately turned up the TV in an attempt to drown out my brother's tuba practice.
See also: drown, out

drown the shamrock

slang To drink alcohol on St. Patrick's Day. Make sure you wear green when we go to drown the shamrock tomorrow night.
See also: drown

if you're born to be hanged, then you'll never be drowned

proverb If someone is destined to die in a particular way, no other type of injury or disaster will kill them. A: "I can't believe Paul's doing so well after getting rescued by the lifeguard." B: "Well, you know what they say—if you're born to be hanged, then you'll never be drowned."
See also: born, drown, if, never

like a drowned rat

Soaking wet (and usually dirty and unkempt as well). She came in from the storm looking like a drowned rat. The poor little guy stood shivering on the beach like a drowned rat.
See also: drown, like, rat

look like a drowned rat

To be soaking wet, especially due to heavy rain. You poor thing, you look like a drowned rat! The kids came home looking like a bunch of drowned rats.
See also: drown, like, look, rat
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

drown in something

 
1. . Lit. to be asphyxiated in some liquid. Wouldn't you hate to drown in that nasty, smelly water? lam not choosy about what I don't want to drown in.
2. Fig. to experience an overabundance of something. We are just drowning in cabbage this year. Our garden is full of it. They were drowning in bills, not money to pay them with.
See also: drown

drown one's troubles

 and drown one's sorrows
Fig. to try to forget one's problems by drinking a lot of alcohol. Bill is in the bar, drowning his troubles. Jane is at home, drowning her sorrows.
See also: drown, trouble

drown someone in something

Fig. to inundate someone with something. (See also drown in something.) I will drown you in money and fine clothes. Mike drowned the nightclub singer in fancy jewels and furs.
See also: drown

drown (someone or an animal) in something

to cause someone or an animal to die of asphyxiation in a liquid. He accidentally drowned the cat in the bathtub. She drowned herself in the lake.
See also: drown

drown someone (or an animal) out

[for a flood] to drive someone or an animal away from home. The high waters almost drowned the farmers out last year. The water drowned out the fields.
See also: drown, out

drown someone or something out

[for a sound] to be so loud that someone or something cannot be heard. The noise of the passing train drowned out our conversation. The train drowned us out.
See also: drown, out

A drowning man will clutch at a straw.

Prov. When you are desperate, you will look for anything that might help you, even if it cannot help you very much. Scott thinks this faith healer will cure his baldness. A drowning man will clutch at a straw.
See also: clutch, drown, man, straw, will

If you're born to be hanged, then you'll never be drowned.

Prov. If you escape one disaster, it must be because you are destined for a different kind of disaster. (Sometimes used to warn someone who has escaped drowning against gloating over good luck.) When their ship was trapped in a terrible storm, Ellen told her husband that she feared they would die. "Don't worry," he replied with a yawn, "if you're born to be hanged, then you'll never be drowned."
See also: born, drown, if, never
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

drown one's sorrows

Drink liquor to escape one's unhappiness. For example, After the divorce, she took to drowning her sorrows at the local bar. The notion of drowning in drink dates from the late 1300s.
See also: drown, sorrow

drown out

Overwhelm with a louder sound, as in Their cries were drowned out by the passing train. [Early 1600s]
See also: drown, out

like a drowned rat

Also, wet as a drowned rat. Soaking wet and utterly bedraggled, as in When she came in out of the rain she looked like a drowned rat. This simile appeared in Latin nearly 2,000 years ago, and in English about the year 1500.
See also: drown, like, rat
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

look like a drowned rat

If someone looks like a drowned rat, they are very wet, usually because they have been caught in heavy rain. I had no umbrella with me so by the time I got home, I looked like a drowned rat.
See also: drown, like, look, rat

drown your sorrows

If someone drowns their sorrows, they drink a lot of alcohol in order to forget something sad that has happened to them. He was in the pub drowning his sorrows after the break-up of his relationship.
See also: drown, sorrow
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

drown your sorrows

forget your problems by getting drunk.
See also: drown, sorrow

like a drowned rat

extremely wet and bedraggled.
See also: drown, like, rat

drown the shamrock

drink, or go drinking on St Patrick's day.
The shamrock with its three-lobed leaves was said to have been used by St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity. It is now used as the national emblem of Ireland.
See also: drown
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

drown your ˈsorrows

(informal, often humorous) try to forget your problems or a disappointment by drinking alcohol: Whenever his team lost a match he could be found in the pub afterwards drowning his sorrows.
See also: drown, sorrow

like a drowned ˈrat

(informal) very wet: She came in from the storm looking like a drowned rat.
See also: drown, like, rat
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

drown out

v.
To muffle or mask some sound with a louder sound: I turned up my TV in order to drown out the noise coming from next door. The protesters drowned the speaker out.
See also: drown, out
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.

drown (one's) sorrow

/sorrows
To try to forget one's troubles by drinking alcohol.
See also: drown, sorrow
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.

drowned rat, like a/wet as a

Thoroughly soaked and utterly bedraggled. Despite their frequent presence in sewers and similar wet places, rats do not like water, a fact observed for many centuries (“It rained by the bucket and they came home wet as drowned rats,” Petronius, Satyricon, ca. a.d. 60). See also soaked to the skin.
See also: drown, like, wet
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • a drowning man will clutch at a straw
  • clutch
  • a drowning man will grab at a straw
  • a drowning man will grasp at a straw
  • help a lame dog over a stile
  • helping
  • lame
  • help on
  • help (someone) on
  • be cruel to be kind
References in periodicals archive
Infants aged <1 year most commonly drowned in bathtubs, accounting for 62.5% (435 of 696) of drowning at this age.
Racial/ethnic disparities in fatal unintentional drowning among persons aged [less than or equal to] 29 years--United States, 1999-2010
Pathologist Dr Anthony Dorman said it sounded "odd" that his head would be out of the water if he drowned, but said fluid in his lungs and airways, were "very characteristic" of drowning.
Drowned man found with head out of water; INQUEST
After college graduation, Drown continued his shooting endeavors and attended the NRA National Smallbore Rifle B-Position Championships at Camp Perry (Ohio) every year.
On target
THE CORRESPONDENT IN "The Open Boat," a short story published by Stephen Crane in 1898, poses the following question as he and three companions are adrift at sea after a shipwreck: "If I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees?" A similar question could have been asked by Odysseus in the Odyssey as he traversed the seas for ten years, though it would have elicited a quite different response.
Contemplating sand and trees in "The Open Boat" and the Odyssey
While this technology will not prevent Long Q-Ts and RyR2s from dying in our facilities, the real-time video will conclusively show that the victim did not drown, provided, of course, the lifeguards responded in an appropriate and timely fashion.
Deadly triggers: genetic drowning triggers may explain why otherwise healthy swimmers drown--and help insulate facilities from liability
Victims who drown in lakes will sink to the bottom in the area below the point of submergence; authorities usually will locate the body within a radius equal to the depth of the water.
Drowning investigations
Roger Vincent, from the Birmingham-based Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said 250 people drown in Britain each year.
Warning over bathing in pools
If left unattended in the seat, an infant might slide down and drown. Manufacturers warn against leaving children unattended in the bath seats.
A full court press to ban baby bath seats
It is as though one had been dropped like Achilles into the river Styx: one would surely drown if the heel of one's mind weren't held by the mothering camera.
Deep TV: Bill Viola's via negativa
The researchers suggest that people who nearly drown in very salty water be checked for salt absorption and treated if necessary with diuretics, stomach washes or dialysis.
Lethal Dead Sea
On eve of Eid: Five drown in Pindi's river of trash
Seven, including four women, drown at Gadani beach
There are no studies in Pakistan on the experiences of lifeguards and their opinions as to why people drown at sea.
Risks of drowning and safety concerns at the beaches of Karachi - perspective from lifeguards
"The majority of children who drown in swimming pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight for less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time of the drowning.
Water safety summer priority
Nonfatal cases included those classified as having a precipitating or immediate cause of "drowning/near-drowning," a diagnosis of "submersion," or the mention of "drown" or "submersion" in the comment field.
Drowning--United States, 2005-2009
And besides, AAP argues, there is no research to prove that swimming lessons for children so young make them less likely to drown.
Sink or swim? Every year, hundreds of toddlers drown. But, surprisingly, the American Academy of Pediatrics warns parents against swimming lessons for youngsters. Does its argument hold water?