drouth

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɹaʊθ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊθ

Noun

drouth (countable and uncountable, plural drouths)

1. (Scotland and Northern England, otherwise archaic or poetic) Alternative form of drought.
   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 4: Calypso]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 54:

     He listened to her licking lap. Ham and eggs, no. No good eggs with this drouth.

   • 1930 August 23, “Fewer Mosquitoes in Season of Drouth”, in Ste. Genevieve Herald, volume 49, number 23, Ste. Genevieve, Mo., →OCLC, front page, column 6:

     While the drouth is a most regrettable occurrence, the resultant scarcity of the pests is one compensation that enables Ste. Genevievans to enjoy an occasional evening on lawn or front porch and to feel the full meaning of the old saw that says “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good.”

   • 1965, Marguerite Young, Miss MacIntosh, My Darling, Scribner, page 174:

     Name other great catastrophes this world has seen, the floods, the fires, the earthquakes, plague or famine or drouth.

Derived terms

• drouthy