a period of dry weather, especially a long one that is injurious to crops.
an extended shortage: a drought of good writing.
Archaic. thirst.
Also drouth[drouth]. /draʊθ/.
Origin of drought
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English drūgath, equivalent to drūg- (base of drȳge “dry”) + -ath noun suffix; cognate with Dutch droogte “dryness”; see dry, -th1
SYNONYMS FOR drought
2 scarcity, lack, want, dearth, paucity, famine.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR drought ON THESAURUS.COM
pronunciation note for drought
Drought and drouth, nouns derived from the adjective dry plus a suffix, are spellings that represent two phonetic developments of the same Old English word, and are pronounced [drout] /draʊt/ and [drouth] /draʊθ/ respectively. The latter pronunciation, therefore, is not a mispronunciation of drought. The now unproductive suffix -th1 and its alternate form -t were formerly used to derive nouns from adjectives or verbs, resulting in such pairs as drouth — drought from dry and highth—height (the former now obsolete) from high. In American English, drought with the pronunciation [drout] /draʊt/ is common everywhere in educated speech, and is the usual printed form.
It has also been extremely dry in California, Oregon, and Washington this summer, with large sections of each state under “severe drought” conditions and some areas reaching “extreme drought.”
“Unprecedented”: What’s behind the California, Oregon, and Washington wildfires|Umair Irfan|September 11, 2020|Vox
We also just had a wet winter, meaning the reservoirs and soils aren’t as parched as they have been during past droughts.
Morning Report: MTS Enforcement Chief Departing|Voice of San Diego|July 28, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Cold summers, drought, famine and plague devastated societies around the world.
How Earth’s Climate Changes Naturally (and Why Things Are Different Now)|Howard Lee|July 21, 2020|Quanta Magazine
That’s the amount the United Nations has agreed would prevent catastrophic climate change – like seas that swallow whole coastal cities, really, really bad wildfires and unbearable droughts.
Environment Report: The Latest Power Struggles for SDG&E and Sempra|MacKenzie Elmer|June 29, 2020|Voice of San Diego
So the team only enters the deep chambers during periods of drought.
The challenge of dinosaur hunting in deep caves|John Pickrell|May 19, 2020|Science News For Students
It was captioned Preserve Your Forests From Destruction And Protect Your Country From Floods And Drought.
The Magazine That Made—and Unmade—Politicians|Anthony Haden-Guest|November 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
From the drought in California to the women of ENIAC, The Daily Beast picks the best journalism from around the web this week.
The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, Sept. 22-28, 2014|John Boot|September 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The drought is now killing off century-old California farms.
The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, Sept. 22-28, 2014|John Boot|September 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Coping with drought and marginal soils was a continual struggle.
‘The Harness Maker’s Dream:’ The Unlikely Ranch King of Texas|Nick Kotz|September 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I remember reading the headlines in the local paper that said, “Four-year drought has ended.”
Life After ‘SVU’: Christopher Meloni on ‘They Came Together,’ Stabler, and His Famous Behind|Marlow Stern|June 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The superstitious natives supposed the drought was sent upon them as a judgment, because myself and Lay were allowed to live.
A Narrative of the Mutiny, on Board the Ship Globe, of Nantucket, in the Pacific Ocean, Jan. 1824|William Lay
Indeed, the portulacca is a vegetable salamander so far as its ability to stand heat and drought is concerned.
ABC of Gardening|Eben Eugene Rexford
The drought had forced all the animals to come to the larger water-courses, and the country was literally swarming with game.
Hunting the Grisly and Other Sketches|Theodore Roosevelt
The water we have discovered, although a plentiful supply for present needs, may run short or cease altogether if drought comes.
The Lonely Island|R.M. Ballantyne
The drought had not brought down the leaves nor cracked the surface.
The New Gulliver and Other Stories|Barry Pain
British Dictionary definitions for drought
drought
/ (draʊt) /
noun
a prolonged period of scanty rainfall
a prolonged shortage
an archaic or dialect word for thirst Archaic and Scot form: drouth
Derived forms of drought
droughty, adjective
Word Origin for drought
Old English drūgoth; related to Dutch droogte; see dry