If you drain something, you remove the liquid from it, usually by pouring it away or allowing it to flow away, and if something drains, liquid flows away or out of it:

To or into the condition of being wasted or lost: All of our best laid plans are down the drain.

DRAIN definition: to withdraw or draw off (a liquid) gradually; remove slowly or by degrees, as by filtration. See examples of drain used in a sentence.

A drain is the primary vessel or conduit for unwanted water or waste liquids to flow away, either to a more useful area, funnelled into a receptacle, or run into sewers or stormwater mains as waste …

Some common synonyms of drain are bankrupt, deplete, exhaust, and impoverish. While all these words mean "to deprive of something essential to existence or potency," drain implies a gradual withdrawal …

A drain is a pipe that carries water or sewage away from a place, or an opening in a surface that leads to the pipe. Tony built his own house and laid his own drains.

Jan 20, 2026 · Noun drain (plural drains) (chiefly US, Canada) A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume; a plughole (UK)

Drain definition: To draw off (a liquid) by a gradual process.

a pipe or other device that allows a liquid to drain: The drains are probably clogged. something that causes a large outflow or depletion: These constant doctor bills are a drain on our finances.

Most commonly found at the bottom of sinks and bathtubs across the globe, a drain is the hole through which water is carried away.