To drown or cause to drown; to submerge or overwhelm in water or liquid.
From 'be-' (causative/intensive prefix) combined with 'drown,' intensifying the action of drowning to mean thoroughly drowning or submerging.
In Shakespeare's *Tempest* and other Renaissance literature, 'bedrown' appears as a poetic way to describe the sea overwhelming people — the be- prefix gave writers a way to make drowning sound more dramatic and inevitable.
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