drought

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English droughte, droghte, drouȝte, from Old English drūgaþ. Cognate with Dutch droogte, Low German Dröögde. By surface analysis, dry + -t (abstract nominal suffix).

1. A period of unusually low rainfall, longer and more severe than a dry spell.

   “His village had faced a drought twice.”

   “The weather looked like drought―a thoroughly wicked drought; if the rain did not come before long, their crops would be burnt up.”

2. A longer than expected term without success, particularly in sport.

   “Sri Lanka ended their ten-game drought with a consolation win over Bangladesh.”

   “Kane had been going through something of a drought by his own standards. His previous England goal came 500 days ago, in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Kosovo, and his header in Tirana ended a run of 496 minutes without scoring.”

3. dryness, aridness, dry heat

   “Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.”

   “The consequences are, that a few days of severe drought, in the early parts of summer, or even when the grain is ripening, is sometimes fatal to the crop on moss.”