da drumul

Romanian

Etymology

Literally, “give the way”.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

a da drumul (third-person singular present dă drumul, past participle dat drumul) 1st conj. (idiomatic)

1. to let go, free, give freedom of movement [with dative]
   • 1921, The Bible (translated by Dumitru Cornilescu), Genesis 8:8^[1]:

     A dat drumul și unui porumbel, ca să vadă dacă scăzuseră apele de pe fața pământului.

     Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground.

   • 1930, George Topîrceanu, Despre duel:

     Țin minte numai atât, că la un moment dat, măturătorul l-a apucat pe negustor cu dinții de-o ureche ― și n-a mai dat drumul, până când a rămas cu bucățica în gură.

     All I remember is, at one point the sweeper grabbed the merchant by the ear with his teeth―and didn't let go until he was left with a piece in his mouth.

   Te rog dă-mi drumul la mână.

   Please let go of my arm.

2. to turn on, get something going
   • 2009 August 3, “Moartea a venit prin duș [Death came through the shower]”, in Adevărul‎^[2]:

     Un ieșean de 70 de ani a murit duminică seară după ce s-a curentat la țeava de apă rece de la baie. Acesta a dat drumul la apă în cadă și s-a sprijinit de capul metalic al dușului. În acel moment s-a electrocutat puternic.

     A 70 year old man from Iași died on Sunday evening after electrocuting himself on the cold water pipe in the bathroom. He turned on the water into the tub and leant on the shower's metallic head. It was then that he was strongly electrocuted.

3. (with placeholder îi, especially imperative) to move it, get going

   Synonyms: o lua din loc, porni

   • 1920, Liviu Rebreanu, Ion, part II, chapter XIII:

     Ei, haidem! Dă-i drumul, că mă așteaptă clienții acasă…

     Well, let's go! Move it, I've got clients waiting at home…

4. (reflexive) to get oneself going, to get rid of an inhibition

   Stai că nu-mi merge pixul—a, și-a dat drumul.

   Wait, my pen isn't working—oh, it got going.

5. (reflexive) to let go and allow oneself to fall
6. (reflexive, vulgar) to ejaculate, to cum, to jizz, to bust a nut
   • 2006 April 23, donprozacul, soc.culture.romanian‎^[3] (Usenet):

     Cind mi-am dat drumul in gura aleia a fost fantastic.

     [Când mi-am dat drumul în gura ăleia a fost fantastic.]

     When I busted into her mouth it was fantastic.

References

• drum in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)