drown
v.v. to die because you are underwater and cannot breathe. It can also mean to cover something completely with a liquid.
v. to die through submersion in and inhalation of water or another liquid; figuratively, to submerge or overwhelm something completely.
He saved the boy who was about to drown in the lake.
The heavy rain threatened to drown the young plants in the garden if the soil did not drain quickly.
The protagonist's voice was nearly drowned out by the roar of the approaching storm, a literal echo of the emotional turmoil currently submerging his better judgment.
From Middle English drownen, drounen, drunen (“to drown”), of obscure and uncertain origin. The OED suggests an unattested Old English form drūnian. Harper 2001 points to Old English druncnian, ġedruncnian (> Middle English drunknen, dronknen (“to drown”)), "probably influenced" by Old Norse drukkna (cf. Icelandic drukkna, Danish drukne (“to drown”)). Funk & Wagnall's has 'of uncertain origin'. It has been theorised (see e.g. ODS) that it may represent a direct loan of Old Norse drukkna, but this is described by the OED as being "on phonetic and other grounds [...] highly improbable", unless one considers the possibility of an unattested variant in Old Norse drunkna.
The verb is both transitive and intransitive. When used figuratively to mean 'overwhelmed', it is often paired with the preposition 'in'.
He was drowned in the poolHe drowned in the poolUnless someone else actively held the person under, 'drown' is usually used in the active voice to describe the accident.