Meaning

5 senses
  1. (transitive)To make (someone or something) heavy with drowsiness or sleepiness.

  2. (transitive)Followed by away: to pass (time) drowsily or in sleeping; also, to proceed (on a way) drowsily or sleepily.

  3. (figuratively, transitive)To make (someone or something) dull or inactive, as if from sleepiness.

  4. (intransitive)Often followed by away or off: to be drowsy or sleepy; to be half-asleep.

  5. (figuratively, intransitive)To be dull or inactive, as if from sleepiness.

More definitions
  • be on the verge of sleeping
  • sleep lightly or for a short period of time

Translations

1 languages

Origin

The verb is either:

The verb is either:

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

drowses, drowsing, drowsed, drowsed
Base formdrowse · to drowse
3rd person singulardrowses
Present participledrowsing
Past simpledrowsed
Past participledrowsed

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theydrowse
he, she, itdrowses

Past simpleLesson

all personsdrowsed

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave drowsed
he, she, ithas drowsed

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill drowse

Synonyms

2 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • sleep lightly or for a short period of time:snoozedoze

Word family

7 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
drowse — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto