Grammar fix

drown out

overpower a sound

to make another sound impossible to hear by being much louder than it

phrasal verbC1occasional

Hear it in context

Notice where the phrase sounds natural.

The noise from the construction site drowned out the speaker's voice completely.communication
In my opinion, it's difficult to concentrate in open-plan offices because conversations and phone calls often drown out your own thoughts.IELTS speaking

Fix the pattern

Pattern: drown out something/someone | be drowned out (by something)

WrongThe crowd drowned his voice out down.

RightThe crowd drowned out his voice. / drowned his voice out.

'Drown out' is complete — don't add 'down'.

Patterndrown out something/someone | be drowned out (by something)

Use it right

Choose the version that sounds natural in speech.

Stiff The traffic noise made it impossible to hear the music.

Natural The traffic drowned out the music.

'Drown out' is the precise verb for one sound burying another; the long paraphrase is clumsy.

Build natural chunks

Words that usually travel with it.

drown out + sound
the musichis voicethe noisethe announcement

Don't confuse it

This sense is different from the literal meaning of 'drown' (to die in water). Here, 'drown out' is always about sounds, not about water or physical drowning.

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