drown out

Học thuật
Thân thiện
Definition

Verb: * To make a sound impossible or very difficult to hear by being much louder. * To overpower or overwhelm one sound with another, more dominant sound.

Usage

The verb "drown out" is a phrasal verb used to describe the action where a louder sound completely covers or masks a quieter sound, making the quieter sound inaudible. It is typically used in the structure: [Louder Sound] drowns out [Quieter Sound].

Examples
  • The sound of the heavy rain drowned out our conversation.
  • His speech was drowned out by the protesters' chants.
  • I turned up the radio to drown out the noise from the construction site.
  • The singer's voice was completely drowned out by the electric guitars.
Advanced Usage
  • Figurative Use: "Drown out" can be used metaphorically to describe overwhelming something non-physical, such as an emotion or a thought.
    • She tried to drown out her anxiety by keeping constantly busy.
    • The positive reviews were drowned out by the wave of criticism.
Variants and Related Words
  • Drown (verb): The base verb, which literally means to die from submersion in water. Figuratively, it can also mean to overwhelm.
    • Literal: Be careful not to drown in the deep end.
    • Figurative: He drowned his sorrows in alcohol.
Synonyms
  • Overpower
  • Overwhelm
  • Mask
  • Muffle
  • Smother (in a sound context)
Related Phrasal Verbs
  • Drown in: To be overwhelmed by a large amount of something (often non-physical).
    • The company is drowning in debt.
  • Drown out does not have further phrasal verb variants itself.
Verb
  1. make imperceptible
    • The noise from the ice machine drowned out the music