Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Drought

Drought

(drout)
,
Noun.
[OE.
droght
,
drougth
,
druȝð
, AS.
drugað
, from
drugian
to dry. See
Dry
, and cf.
Drouth
, which shows the original final sound.]
1.
Dryness; want of rain or of water; especially, such dryness of the weather as affects the earth, and prevents the growth of plants; aridity.
The
drought
of March hath pierced to the root.
Chaucer.
In a
drought
the thirsty creatures cry.
Dryden.
2.
Thirst; want of drink.
Johnson.
3.
Scarcity; lack.
A
drought
of Christian writers caused a dearth of all history.
Fuller.

Webster 1828 Edition


Drought

DROUGHT.

[See Drouth.]

Definition 2024


drought

drought

English

Alternative forms

Noun

drought (plural droughts)

  1. A period of unusually low rainfall, longer and more severe than a dry spell.
    • 2012 January 1, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 70:
      Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.
  2. (by extension, informal) A longer than expected term without success, particularly in sport.

Translations