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drowning

drowning

5 3.5
Death or serious harm caused by not being able to breathe under water
  • noun
  • /ˈdraʊnɪŋ/
translation icon : ahogamiento
  • When you want success as much as a drowning person wants their next breath, you will find a way.
  • prevent drownings
  • accidental drownings
  • number of drownings

The visual of that first drowning comes to mind.

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Examples

  • There were almost never two drownings in a year in such a small community.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Cantor and Omdahl (1991) investigated children's responses after exposure to realistic media depictions of life-threatening events, such as fires and drownings.

    Academic text (1994)
  • And the point is, at which distance does the drowning child become less important to you?

  • Now I am sure the reason for asking passengers to remain on foot is to prevent drownings.

    Blog text (25)
  • Four missing boats, three unexplained drownings.

  • Car crashes, house fires, drownings - you name it, I've probably thought of it.

    Blog text (27)
  • The three drownings took place on clear days and were in different areas; the carcasses were dumped overboard.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Unverified reports arrived of widespread flooding on Staten Island, of drownings and rescues, and people swimming to the hospital for help.

    Blog text (34)
  • The boats employed were often dangerously overcrowded and unsafe, and there were numerous reports of shipwrecks and drownings.

    Academic text (2012)
  • According to the Home Safety Council, nearly a quarter of all drownings in the United States happen near home.

Antonyms

730 1.0

An act of saving someone or something from danger

Idioms

6.2

Having too much paperwork to handle

Surface Forms

drowning singular
drownings plural

Morphology

drowning = drown (transparent) = drown + ing

The noun 'drowning' is transparently derived from the verb 'drown' with the addition of the suffix '-ing' to indicate the action or process.

Etymology

The word drowning comes from an old English word related to drink ('to drink'). A helpful image is someone 'drinking' so much water that it fills their lungs and stops them breathing, which is why drowning means death or serious harm caused by being unable to breathe under water.