
drab | drab: adj. dull, colourless, dreary, dingy, lacklustre, lustreless, dismal, cheerless, grey, sombre: She wore drab clothes and no make-up.
draft | draft: n. 1 plan, sketch, drawing, outline, rough (sketch), blueprint, diagram, prospectus: We must have the draft of the new design by morning. 2 bill of exchange, cheque, money order, postal order; letter of credit: Our customer issued a draft in full payment. --v. 3 sketch, delineate, outline, design, plan, frame, block out, compose, diagram, draw (up): The art department has drafted the layout for the new encyclopedia.
drag | drag: v. 1 pull, draw, haul, tow, tug, trail, lug: It took the two of us to drag the desk into the other office. 2 pull, distract, draw; induce, persuade, coax, wheedle: She''s been unable to drag him away from the TV. 3 trudge, slog, crawl, creep, inch, shuffle, shamble: He''s looking for a job and just drags along from one employment agency to another. 4 trail (behind), linger, dawdle, lag (behind), straggle, draggle, potter, loiter, poke (along), dilly-dally, US lallygag: She just drags along after us wherever we go. 5 (be) prolong(ed), (be) extend(ed), (be)draw(n) out, (be) protract(ed), (be) stretch(ed) out, spin out or be spun out: Why drag out the agony of uncertainty any longer? His speech dragged on for another hour. 6 drag one''s feet or heels. delay, procrastinate, hang back; obstruct, block, stall: The committee is dragging its feet on the housing issue. --n. 7 bore, nuisance, annoyance; pest; Colloq drip, pain (in the neck), headache: That course in botany is a real drag.
drain | drain: n. 1 ditch, channel, trench, culvert, conduit, pipe, gutter, outlet, watercourse, sewer, cloaca: The storm drains have overflowed. 2 depletion, reduction, sapping, sap, exhaustion, strain, drag; outgo, outflow, withdrawal, disbursement, expenditure: The cost of the new roof was a drain on our resources. 3 down the drain. wasted, gone, thrown away, lost, Slang up the spout: All that money spent on his education went down the drain. --v. 4 draw off, tap, extract, remove, take away, withdraw, pump off or out; empty, evacuate, drink up or down, quaff, swallow, finish: After washing the lettuce, drain off the water. He drained the glass in one gulp. 5 consume, use up, exhaust, sap, deplete, bleed, strain, tax, spend; weaken, debilitate, impair, cripple: The car repairs drained my bank account. After climbing to the top of the mountain, we were completely drained. 6 seep, trickle, ooze, drip, leave, go or flow from or out of, disappear (from), ebb: Let the pus drain from the boil. The blood drained from his face when he saw her.
drama | drama: n. 1 play, stage play, photoplay, screenplay, (stage) show, (theatrical) piece, (stage) production; scenario: He plays only in dramas, never in musicals. 2 dramaturgy, stagecraft, theatre art(s), Thespian or histrionic art(s), acting, theatre, dramatic art: She has studied drama at RADA. 3 histrionics, dramatics, theatrics, theatricalism, play-acting: There''s always a drama over who''s going to wash up.
dramatic | dramatic: adj. 1 theatric(al), dramaturgic(al), Thespian, histrionic, stage: She was studying the dramatic works of Shakespeare. There will be a festival of dramatic arts at the centre next week. 2 vivid, sensational, startling, breathtaking, sudden, striking, noticeable, extraordinary, impressive, marked, shocking, expressive, graphic, effective; complete, considerable, radical, major: A dramatic change has come over him since meeting her. 3 flamboyant, melodramatic, colourful, showy, stirring, spectacular; theatrical, histrionic, exaggerated, overdone: His presentation was quite dramatic, well staged and with much arm-waving.
dramatist | dramatist: n. playwright, dramaturge, screenwriter, scriptwriter, scenarist, tragedian, melodramatist: The actors failed to carry out the dramatist''s intentions.
dramatize | dramatize: v. exaggerate, overplay, overstate, overdo, make a production or show (out) of, Colloq lay it on (thick), pile it on, ham (something or it) up: He always dramatizes everything way out of proportion.
drape | drape: v. 1 hang, festoon, swathe, deck, array, bedeck, adorn, ornament, decorate: The coffin was draped with the national flag. --n. 2 drapery, curtain; hanging, tapestry: The drapes match neither the carpet nor the wallpaper.
drapery | drapery: n. drape, curtain; hanging, valance, pelmet, tapestry, arras, porti�re, lambrequin, drop: Which colour will you choose for the drapery?
drastic | drastic: adj. violent, severe, extreme, strong, powerful, potent, puissant, fierce, forceful, vigorous, rigorous, harsh, radical, Draconian, desperate, dire: I shall have to take drastic measures if this misbehaviour continues.
draught | draught: n. 1 breeze, breath (of air), (light) wind, current (of air), puff (of air or wind): You''ll get a cold sitting in the draught. 2 dose, portion, measure, quantity, drink, swallow, sip, nip, tot, potation, dram, gulp, Colloq swig, tipple: The doctor recommended a draught of this tonic before meals.
draw | draw: v. 1 pull, tug, tow, drag, haul, lug: The gypsy caravan was drawn by two horses. 2 pull or take out, extract; unsheathe, unholster: The cowboy drew his gun and began firing. 3 draw off; pour; drain off or out: She drew two pails of water for the horses. 4 attract, gather, allure, lure, bring out or forth, elicit, Colloq pull: Anything will draw a crowd in New York. 5 depict, sketch, portray, outline, delineate, design, limn, paint: The artist was drawing pictures in chalk on the pavement. 6 devise, draw up, draft, create, contrive, frame, compose, prepare: The plans for the new civic centre have not yet been drawn. 7 inhale, breathe (in), inspire; suck in: She''s very ill and may draw her last breath any minute. 8 draw out, withdraw, take, receive, get, acquire, obtain, secure, procure, extract, remove: I have to draw some money from my bank account for groceries. 9 choose, pick, select, take: It is your turn to draw a card. 10 draw back. retreat, recoil, shrink (from), withdraw: He drew back quickly when he saw the snake. 11 draw in. arrive, pull in: The train drew in to the station. 12 draw off. a tap, pour: The barmaid drew off two large beers from the keg. b withdraw, draw or go away, depart, leave: The Indians drew off and waited to see what we would do. 13 draw on. a employ, use, make use of, exploit, have resort or recourse to, resort to, fall back on, rely or depend on: She drew on her years of experience as a doctor. b come close or near, near, draw nigh, approach, advance: With the cold season drawing on, we had to get in the crops. 14 draw out. a extend, drag out, prolong, protract, lengthen, stretch, spin out: Her visit has been drawn out to a week. b elicit, evoke, induce to talk: I drew him out on his feelings about social security. c See 8, above. 15 draw up. a halt, stop, pull up or over: A taxi drew up and I got in. b draft, compose, prepare, put down (in writing), frame, compile, put together, formulate: We drew up the agreement only yesterday. c arrange, deploy, position, order, rank, marshal: The troops were drawn up in full battle array. --n. 16 magnetism, attraction, lure, enticement, Colloq pull, drawing power: The draw of the rock concert was extraordinary. 17 tie, stalemate, dead heat, deadlock: The race ended in a draw for second place.
drawback | drawback: n. disadvantage, hindrance, stumbling-block, obstacle, impediment, hurdle, obstruction, snag, problem, difficulty, hitch, catch, handicap, liability, flaw, defect, detriment, Colloq fly in the ointment; Taboo nigger in the woodpile: Lack of education is a serious drawback to getting a good job.
drawing | drawing: n. picture, depiction, representation, sketch, plan, outline, design, composition, black-and-white, monochrome: The book is illustrated by some delightful pen-and-ink drawings.
drawn | drawn: adj. haggard, worn out, tired, fatigued, strained, pinched, tense, exhausted: Sidonia looks a bit drawn after her ordeal.
dread | dread: v. 1 fear, be afraid of, apprehend, anticipate, flinch, shrink or recoil from, cringe or quail or blench or wince at, view with horror or alarm: She dreads any kind of surgery. --n. 2 fear, fright, fearfulness, trepidation, apprehension, apprehensiveness, uneasiness, anticipation, alarm, nervousness, qualm, queasiness, misgiving, dismay, worry, anxiety, consternation, concern, distress, perturbation, disquiet, aversion, horror, terror, panic, Colloq cold feet, butterflies (in the stomach), the jitters; Slang the heebie-jeebies, the willies, the collywobbles: I regarded the history exam with dread. --adj. 3 feared, dreaded, dreadful, terrifying, terrible: Before us, breathing fire, was the dread dragon of the Druids.
dreadful | dreadful: adj. 1 bad, awful, terrible, Colloq rotten, Slang lousy: That TV soap opera is simply dreadful. 2 grievous, dire, horrible, horrendous, horrifying, horrid, monstrous, fearful, feared, frightful, dread, frightening, shocking, alarming, appalling, fearsome, hideous, ghastly, atrocious, heinous, wicked, evil, iniquitous, villainous, flagitious, fiendish, diabolical, devilish, demonic, malevolent, maleficent, malefic, Colloq scary: They did the most dreadful things to political prisoners.
dream | dream: n. 1 reverie, day-dream, delusion, fantasy, hallucination, illusion, vision, mirage, pipedream, (flight of) fancy, speculation: When I awoke I realized that my winning the lottery had just been a dream. --v. 2 imagine, fancy, conjure up, hallucinate: I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls.
dreamer | dreamer: n. fantasizer, visionary, idealist, romantic, romanticist, idealizer, Utopian; day-dreamer, escapist, fantasizer, star-gazer: If you think people change, you''re a dreamer.
dreamlike | dreamlike: adj. unreal, fantastic, unbelievable, phantasmagoric(al), hallucinatory or hallucinative or hallucinational, surreal, delusionary or delusional, illusionary or illusional, delusive or delusory, illusory or illusive, insubstantial or unsubstantial, imaginary, chimeric(al), fanciful, fancied, visionary: His plans have a dreamlike quality about them that make them impractical.
dreamy | dreamy: adj. 1 dreamlike, vague, indefinite, indistinct, undefined, intangible, misty, shadowy, faint: He has a dreamy recollection of being awakened in the middle of the night. 2 absent-minded, absent, far-away, abstracted, pensive, thoughtful; day-dreaming, musing, occupied, in a reverie, in a brown study, in the clouds; Colloq off somewhere: I was in a dreamy mood, my mind wandering through old memories. 3 relaxing, soothing, calming, lulling, gentle, tranquil, peaceful, peaceable, quiet; lazy, sleepy, drowsy: It was one of those dreamy, hot midsummer days.
dreary | dreary: adj. 1 dismal, joyless, cheerless, gloomy, bleak, drear, sombre, doleful, depressing, wretched; sad, melancholy, downcast, depressed, funereal, glum, unhappy, forlorn, mournful, morose, blue, miserable: One more day on these dreary moors and I shall go mad. Caroline was again in a dreary mood. 2 boring, lifeless, colourless, ennuyant, drab, dull, arid, dry, uninteresting, dead, monotonous, prosaic, tedious, tiresome, tiring, wearisome, wearying, humdrum, ordinary, vapid, run-of-the-mill, unstimulating, unexciting: Do you mean to tell me that that dreary book is a best seller!
dregs | dregs: n.pl. 1 sediment, grounds, lees, deposit, residue, solids, remains; precipitate: Filter the coffee to remove the dregs. 2 outcasts, pariahs, rabble, riff-raff, scum, tramps, down-and-outs, losers: That park is frequented by the dregs of society.
drench | drench: v. soak, saturate, wet, flood, inundate, immerse, drown: She had no coat or umbrella and got completely drenched in the storm.
dress | dress: v. 1 clothe, put on (clothing or clothes), attire, apparel, outfit, fit out, garb, accoutre or US also accouter; array, bedeck, deck out, rig out, smarten up: They dressed him to look like a prince. 2 array, equip, adorn, decorate, deck out, arrange: He has a job dressing shop windows. 3 bandage, treat, medicate, doctor: After dressing my wound they gave me a sedative. 4 dress down. reprimand, scold, berate, castigate, rebuke, reprove, upbraid, Colloq tell off, haul (someone) over the coals, Brit tear (someone) off a strip, US and Canadian chew out, US rake (someone) over the coals, tee off on (someone): The colonel dressed us down and cancelled all leave. 5 dress up. a put on dinner or formal clothes, put on one''s (Sunday) best (clothes), Colloq put on one''s best bib and tucker or one''s glad rags: On the cruise, we dressed up in our dinner-jackets every night. b (put on a) costume, disguise, masquerade, camouflage, put on fancy dress: The children dressed up as goblins for Hallowe''en. --n. 6 frock, gown, outfit, costume, Colloq get-up: Why not wear your new dress to the dance tonight?
dressmaker | dressmaker: n. seamstress, tailor, couturier or couturi�re, modiste: She''s at the dressmaker''s having a ball gown fitted.
dressy | dressy: adj. 1 formal, dressed-up, elegant, fancy, chic: A black suit is too dressy to wear tonight - it''s not a dressy party. 2 elegant, smart, stylish, Colloq classy, ritzy, Brit swish: That''s a very dressy outfit, I must say!
drift | drift: v. 1 coast, float, waft: A log drifted by on the tide. 2 wander, roam, meander, stray, rove, ramble, Colloq mosey: He seems just to drift through life, without a purpose. --n. 3 trend, tendency, direction, course, current, bias, inclination, flow, sweep, bent: The drift of the conversation seemed to be towards politics. 4 intention, meaning, purport, purpose, aim, object, tenor, tone, spirit, colour, essence, gist, significance, import: Offended by the drift of her remarks, I excused myself. 5 accumulation, pile, heap, mass, bank, mound, dune: After the snowstorm, a huge drift blocked the door.
drifter | drifter: n. vagrant, tramp, vagabond, beachcomber, rambler, wanderer, Colloq knight of the road, US bum, hobo: A drifter, he had no place to call home.
drill | drill: v. 1 bore, penetrate, pierce, cut a hole: The thieves drilled into the safe. 2 rehearse, train, practise, exercise, teach, instruct, school, tutor, coach, indoctrinate; discipline: We were thoroughly drilled in the Latin conjugations and declensions. --n. 3 auger, (brace and) bit, gimlet: The bit for this drill is no longer sharp. 4 practice, training, repetition, exercise, rehearsal; discipline: Tomorrow there will be a complete drill of the parts of speech.
drink | drink: v. 1 quaff, imbibe, sip, gulp, swallow, swill, guzzle, toss off, lap (up), Colloq wet one''s whistle, swig, knock back, US belt: She prefers not to drink beer. 2 tipple, nip, indulge, tope, chug-a-lug, carouse, Colloq booze, bend the elbow, hit the bottle, go on a binge or bender, drown one''s sorrows, US and Canadian go on a toot, Chiefly Brit pub-crawl: He threatened to leave her if she continued to drink. 3 drink to. toast, salute, celebrate, pledge: Let''s drink to friendship! --n. 4 beverage, potation, liquid refreshment, liquid, potable, draught: After the match I was dying for a drink. 5 alcohol, spirits, liquor, the cup that cheers; stirrup-cup; Colloq booze, the bottle, hard stuff, mother''s ruin, eye-opener, nightcap, US hooch; Slang rot-gut, US the sauce, red-eye: After the accident, he took to drink. 6 tot, nip, draught or US also draft, schooner, pint, bumper, jigger, snifter, sip, taste, glass, gulp, swallow, Scots (wee) deoch an doris or doch an dorris, (wee) dram, Brit sundowner; Colloq snort, slug, swig: Granny likes a drink before retiring. 7 the drink. the sea, the ocean, the main, the deep, Nautical Davy Jones''s locker, Colloq the briny: The canoe tipped and our picnic went right into the drink!
drip | drip: v. 1 dribble, trickle, drop; drizzle, sprinkle: The tap began to drip and kept me awake all night. --n. 2 dribble, trickle, drop, dripping: Yes, it was the drip from the tap that kept me awake. 3 milksop, bore, wet blanket, killjoy, damper, Colloq Brit wet, weed, Colloq wimp, Slang pill, drag, US and Canadian milquetoast: Must you invite that drip George?
drive | drive: v. 1 push, propel, impel, urge, press, thrust, move, motivate, actuate, prod, spur, goad, urge, force, make, compel, coerce, constrain, oblige, pressure or Brit pressurize, high-pressure, induce, require; demand: What drove you to become a traitor? 2 operate, conduct, manoeuvre, manipulate, handle, steer, control; pilot: Have you a valid licence to drive this car? 3 ride, travel, motor, go, move, proceed, journey, tour, Colloq tool along: Luckily, when the tyre blew out, we were driving at only 20 m.p.h. 4 stab, plunge, thrust, sink, push, send, dig, ram: He has driven the dagger deep into the monster''s heart. 5 herd, drove, shepherd, ride herd (on): We used to drive the cattle up the old Chisholm Trail to market in Abilene. 6 drive at. hint (at), suggest, imply, intimate, allude or refer to, intend, mean, have in mind, indicate, Colloq get at: He was so na�ve he had no idea what she was driving at. --n. 7 ride, trip, outing, journey, run, tour, excursion, Colloq spin, whirl: On Sundays we would go for a drive in the country. 8 energy, effort, impetus, vigour, vim, spunk, enterprise, industry, initiative, ambition, ambitiousness, determination, persistence, urgency, zeal, enthusiasm, keenness, aggressiveness, Colloq get-up-and-go, pep, zip, push, hustle: She owes her success to her drive as well as her talent. 9 driveway, approach, (private) road or street, lane, byway, (scenic) route: The drive up to the house is lined with trees. 10 campaign, effort, appeal, crusade: The club has had a successful membership drive this year.
drivel | drivel: v. 1 dribble, drool, slobber, slaver: You''re drivelling all over the front of your shirt! 2 babble, prate, prattle, gibber, jabber, burble, gabble, chatter, blether or US blather, Colloq jibber-jabber, gab, Brit rabbit or witter or natter on, US run off at the mouth: She keeps drivelling on about her family. --n. 3 gibberish, rubbish, (stuff and) nonsense, twaddle, balderdash, hogwash, Colloq eyewash, tripe, garbage, malarkey, hooey, hot air, bosh, boloney or baloney, Slang crap, bull, bilge (water), codswallop, US horse feathers, Taboo bullshit, balls, Brit (load of old) cobblers: I''ve never heard so much drivel from a candidate in my entire life!
droop | droop: v. 1 sag, hang (down), wilt, dangle: Flags drooped in the windless heat. 2 languish, weaken, flag, wilt, wither, be limp, slump, sag: Halfway through the marathon she began to droop a bit.
drop | drop: n. 1 globule, bead, drip, droplet, tear: A drop of sweat hung from his nose. 2 bit, spot, particle, taste, dram, sip, nip, pinch, dash, dab, Colloq smidgen or smidgin: Add a drop of milk before kneading the dough. 3 descent, fall: There was a sheer drop of a thousand feet from the ledge into the chasm below. 4 decline, slope, fall-off, drop-off, declivity, incline: The drop is about 15 feet in 100. --v. 5 drip, trickle, dribble: As the water drops, filling the tube, the float rises. 6 fall, descend, sink, drop away or down or off, dive, plunge, plummet, decline, collapse: The barometer dropped 10 millibars in 10 minutes. Near that rock, the road drops to the beach. At the first shot, we dropped to the ground. 7 desert, forsake, give up, abandon, leave, quit, throw over, jilt, discard, reject, repudiate, renounce, Colloq chuck, ditch, dump; relinquish, let go, discontinue, stop, cease, end: After what he said, she dropped him like a hot potato. I wish you''d drop the subject of my disability. 8 release, let go of, shed, cast off, discard, doff: Deciduous trees drop their leaves in winter. 9 omit, leave out, exclude, eliminate: To avoid confusion with his father, he dropped his middle initial. 10 dismiss, let go, fire, discharge, oust, Colloq chiefly Brit sack, give (someone) the sack: They dropped her after a week''s trial. 11 decline, decrease, drop or fall off, diminish, slacken, slack or taper off, subside, lessen: Demand for swimsuits drops during the winter. 12 drop in (on). visit, call (on), pop in (on), come by, stop in: Viola dropped in for tea yesterday. 13 drop out. withdraw (from), leave; rusticate, depart, decamp, go away or off, take off, turn off: She dropped out of school. After winning the award, Crater dropped out and hasn''t been seen since.
drown | drown: v. 1 flood, inundate, swamp, deluge, drench, immerse, submerge, engulf: The village was completely drowned in the tidal wave. 2 overwhelm, overcome, overpower, engulf, swamp, deluge, inundate: We were almost drowned by the responses to our advertisement.
drowsy | drowsy: adj. sleepy, heavy-lidded, groggy, somnolent, dozy, oscitant; nodding, yawning; torpid, sluggish, tired, weary, listless, lethargic, lazy: We all felt a bit drowsy after that big dinner.
drudgery | drudgery: n. toil, labour, moil, travail, (hack) work, donkey-work, chore, slog, slogging, slavery, Colloq grind, sweat, Brit skivvying, fag: She wanted some relief from the sheer drudgery of housework.
drug | drug: n. 1 medication, medicine, medicament, pharmaceutical, remedy, cure, treatment; cure-all, panacea: My doctor prescribes too many drugs. 2 opiate, narcotic, stimulant, tranquillizer, antidepressant, hallucinogen(ic), psychedelic, hypnotic, soporific, sedative, analgesic, painkiller, Slang dope, downer, upper: Can they control the traffic in drugs? --v. 3 dose, medicate, treat: I was drugged with antihistamines and unable to drive. 4 anaesthetize, dope, deaden, knock out, sedate, stupefy, numb, benumb, dull, narcotize; poison, Slang slip (someone) a Mickey (Finn): The victim had been drugged and kidnapped.
druggist | druggist: n. pharmacist, apothecary, Brit chemist: Only a druggist is qualified to dispense this medication.
drunk | drunk: adj. 1 drunken, intoxicated, inebriated, besotted, tipsy, groggy, sotted, crapulent or crapulous, in one''s cups, under the weather, under the influence, maudlin, ebriate, ebriose, ebrious, Colloq soused, pickled, high (as a kite), tight, boozed, boozy, lit (up), half-seas-over, three or four sheets to the wind, out (cold), under the table, Brit squiffy; Slang pie-eyed, loaded, stoned, stewed (to the gills), (well-)oiled, bombed (out of one''s mind), crocked, plastered, tanked, sloshed, polluted, stinko, smashed, blotto, pissed: He was so drunk he tried to fly. 2 exhilarated, excited, exuberant, invigorated, inspirited, animated, ecstatic; flushed, feverish, inflamed, aflame, fervent, fervid, delirious: Since he became a director, he''s been drunk with power. --n. 3 drunkard, drinker, toper, tippler, sot, soak, bibber, winebibber; dipsomaniac, alcoholic, problem drinker; Colloq guzzler, swiller, sponge, Slang wino, boozer, dipso, lush, souse, alky, US juicer, juice-head, rummy: The drunks who volunteered were registered for treatment. 4 carouse, bacchanal, carousal, bacchanalia, revel, Slang bender, tear, jag, bat, US and Canadian toot, Chiefly Brit pub-crawl: I went off on a wild drunk the night before my wedding.
drunkenness | drunkenness: n. intoxication, insobriety, intemperance, sottishness, bibulousness, inebriety, crapulence, crapulousness, tipsiness, ebriety; dipsomania, alcoholism, ebriosity; Colloq boozing, Slang hitting the bottle or US the sauce: Only a psychiatrist could help cure his drunkenness.
dry | dry: adj. 1 dehydrated, desiccated, arid, sear, parched, waterless, moistureless; barren, bare, fruitless: With no rain for a month, the dry earth yielded no crops. 2 dreary, boring, tedious, tiresome, wearisome, wearying, tiring, dull, uninteresting, monotonous, prosaic, commonplace, stale, uninspired; plain, unadorned, unembellished: The minister''s speech was as dry as could be, a litany of dry statistics. 3 witty, droll, wry, cynical, biting, sarcastic, cutting, keen, sly, ironic: Oscar Wilde was known for his dry witticisms. --v. 4 dehydrate, desiccate, parch: As the rainfall subsided, the land dried and changed into a desert. 5 dry up or out, wither, shrivel, shrink, wilt: The plants dried because they weren''t watered.
