Basic Details
Word: Drain
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A pipe or channel that carries away dirty or extra water; as a verb, to let liquid flow out, or to use up someone's energy.
Synonyms: sewer, channel, empty, exhaust
Antonyms: fill, restore
How to Spell Drain
Syllables: drain
Tricky part: The vowel sound is spelt ai, as in rain and train. Drane and drian are the usual mistakes.
Watch out for: drane, drian, drayne
Memory tip: Rain runs into the drain: drain is simply d + rain.
Idioms and Phrases
- down the drain: wasted or lost for ever. Example: "All our practice went down the drain when the match was cancelled."
- brain drain: skilled and educated people leaving a country to work abroad. Example: "The minister said better research labs could slow the brain drain."
Usage Examples
Example 1: Leaves blocked the drain outside our gate, so the lane flooded after the storm.
Example 2: Drain the boiled pasta before you add the sauce.
Example 3: Too much screen time can drain a phone battery before lunch.
Fun Fact
Mohenjo-daro, a city of the Indus Valley Civilisation, had covered brick drains along its streets more than 4,000 years ago.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the one that is not.
1. reservoir 2. aqueduct 3. drane 4. culvert
a) a pipe or channel that carries away waste water
b) a bridge or channel built to carry water a long way
c) a large lake used for storing water
d) a tunnel that carries a stream under a road
Show answer
a) a pipe or channel that carries away waste water. Drane is misspelt; the word is drain, with the ai of rain.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Pour the dirty mop water into the nradi in the courtyard, not on the plants.
a) train
b) drain
c) brain
d) grain
Show answer
b) drain. The letters are n, r, a, d and i, and only drain uses a d; it is also the only one that takes dirty water.
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to drain as used in the sentence:
The long exam seemed to drain every bit of energy from the students.
a) use up
b) restore
c) sap
d) exhaust
Show answer
b) restore. To drain energy is to use it up; to restore it is to bring it back.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If money goes 'down the drain', it is ____.
a) wasted
b) saved
c) borrowed
d) doubled
Show answer
a) wasted
2. You could drain ____.
a) a bucket of water
b) a gust of wind
c) a beam of light
d) a song
Show answer
a) a bucket of water
