Drought
[draʊt]
Definition
(noun.) a shortage of rainfall; 'farmers most affected by the drought hope that there may yet be sufficient rain early in the growing season'.
(noun.) a prolonged shortage; 'when England defeated Pakistan it ended a ten-year drought'.
Edited by Lilian--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) Dryness; want of rain or of water; especially, such dryness of the weather as affects the earth, and prevents the growth of plants; aridity.
(n.) Thirst; want of drink.
(n.) Scarcity; lack.
Edited by Gillian
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Dryness (of weather), aridity, drouth, want of rain.
Checked by Angelique
Definition
n. dryness: want of rain or of water: thirst.—ns. Drought′iness Drouth′iness.—adjs. Drought′y Drouth′y full of drought: very dry: wanting rain thirsty.
Typed by Jed
Examples
- He succeeded, where Taft failed, in preventing that drought of invention which officialism brings. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The seasons most unfavourable to the crop are those of excessive drought or excessive rain. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- This renders them liable to destruction in times of drought. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- In the summer of 1911, prolonged drought in North Carolina lowered the rivers to such an extent that towns dependent upon them suffered greatly. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- I then worked the lawn very carefully for signs and traces, but this drought has made everything as hard as iron. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- What wonder then, in time of siege, want, extreme heat, and drought, that it should make unaccustomed ravages? Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- How disastrous a great drought might prove to the cattle of the Pampas is shown by the records of 1825 and of 1830. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- The drought in Bengal, a few years ago, might probably have occasioned a very great dearth. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The drought which Reuben administered was of a sedative and narcotic quality, and secured the patient sound and undisturbed slumbers. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- She wasted like any snow-wreath in thaw; she faded like any flower in drought. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- When didst thou drink as deep a drought of water before, Holy Clerk of Copmanhurst? Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- A cup of wine will do thee no harm, he added, filling and handing to the swineherd a richer drought than Gurth had ever before tasted. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- It had fought gamely with floods and droughts, with cholera and panics, with desperadoes and with land thieves. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- The crops upon Mars are always uniform, for there are no droughts, no rains, no high winds, and no insects, or destroying birds. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
Typist: Perry