[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/drought.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / drought

[← D](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/D/)

# drought

«drought» in Mova's school dictionary: **A long period of time with little or no rain, so the land…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a drought, droughts; uncountable when general)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A long period of time with little or no rain, so the land becomes very dry and water is scarce. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/drought/#m1)

2) A long time without something that is needed or wanted: «a goal drought». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/drought/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In geography and science lessons droughts cause crops to fail, rivers to dry up and animals to suffer; they are linked to bushfires in Australia. In everyday life, a drought can bring «hosepipe bans» (UK) and water restrictions. In sport talk, a «goal drought» means a team has not scored for a long time. Phrases: «severe drought», «in drought», «drought-resistant plants», «water restrictions».

### examples

- The drought dried up the farm dam. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/drought/#x1)
- Many crops died during the drought. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/drought/#x2)
- Cacti are drought-resistant plants. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/drought/#x3)
- There's a hosepipe ban because of the drought. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/drought/#x4)
- (Australia) Farmers struggled through a long drought. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/drought/#x5)
- The striker ended his goal drought with a brilliant header. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/drought/#x6)
- When a drought was impending, he scattered the peasant's seed-corn over a swamp; when a wet season was at hand, he sowed the slopes of the hills. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/drought/#x7)

### note

Pronounced «drowt» (rhymes with «out»), not «drot». The «gh» is silent. Do not confuse with «draught» (UK: a cold current of air) or «drought» with «flood» (its opposite). In maths, drought problems often use rainfall data: compare monthly totals to the usual average.

### In the corpora

- [Elephants have excellent memories: old female leaders remember distant water in droughts and recognise friends after many years.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/12/)
- [Peter and Rosemary Grant watched the finches' beaks change within just a few years after a drought.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/180-the-galapagos-giant-tortoises-sea-iguanas-darwins-finches-and-tame-sea-lions/8/)
- [In a drought in Tanzania, herds with older matriarchs who remembered an earlier drought survived better.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/236-animal-minds-elephants-memory-feelings-and-the-mouse-myth/5/)
- [In the 1970s Peter and Rosemary Grant measured finch beaks changing in just a few years after a drought.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/264-how-scientists-find-out-naturalists-darwin-the-microscope-and-wildlife-filming/9/)
- [Many southern cities were abandoned around 1,100 years ago, probably because of droughts, wars and too many people for the land.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/18-the-maya/5/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «drought» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/drought/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.