drought

drought

noun \ˈdrau̇t\

Definition of DROUGHT

1

: a period of dryness especially when prolonged; specifically : one that causes extensive damage to crops or prevents their successful growth

2

: a prolonged or chronic shortage or lack of something expected or desired

— drought·i·ness \ˈdrau̇-tē-nəs\ noun

— droughty \ˈdrau̇-tē\ adjective

Variants of DROUGHT

drought also drouth \ˈdrau̇th\

Examples of DROUGHT

1. The drought caused serious damage to crops.
2. a period of drought that lasted several years

Origin of DROUGHT

Middle English, from Old English drūgath, from drūgian to dry up; akin to Old English drȳge dry — more at dry

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to DROUGHT

Synonyms

crunch, dearth, deficit, deficiency (also drouth), failure, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, lack, lacuna, paucity, pinch, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want

Antonyms

abundance, adequacy, amplitude, opulence, plenitude, plenty, sufficiency, wealth

Related Words

absence, omission; meagerness, poorness, skimpiness; necessity, need, privation

Near Antonyms

bountifulness, copiousness; excess, overabundance, oversupply, surfeit, surplus

Other Climate/Meteorology Terms

monsoon, occlusion, ozone, rime, squall, zephyr

Rhymes with DROUGHT

bout, clout, doubt, flout, glout, gout, grout, knout, kraut, lout, out, pout, rout, route, scout, shout, snout, spout, sprout, stout, tout, trout

drought

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Lack or insufficiency of rain for an extended period that severely disturbs the hydrologic cycle in an area. Droughts involve water shortages, crop damage, streamflow reduction, and depletion of groundwater and soil moisture. They occur when evaporation and transpiration exceed precipitation for a considerable period. Drought is the most serious hazard to agriculture in nearly every part of the world. Efforts have been made to control it by seeding clouds to induce rainfall, but these experiments have had only limited success.