flood

[fluhd]

noun

1. a great flowing or overflowing of water, especially over land not usually submerged.

2. any great outpouring or stream.

   a flood of emotions;

   a flood of requests;

   a flood of patients.

3. the Flood, a universal deluge recorded in the Bible, believed to have occurred in the days of Noah.

4. the rise or flowing in of the tide (ebb ).

5. a floodlight.

6. Archaic.,  a large body of water.

verb (used with object)

1. to overflow in or cover with a flood; fill to overflowing.

   Don't flood the bathtub.

2. to cover or fill, as if with a flood.

   The road was flooded with cars.

   Synonyms: deluge, inundate

3. to overwhelm with an abundance of something.

   to be flooded with mail.

   Synonyms: deluge, inundate

4. Automotive.,  to supply too much fuel to (the carburetor), so that the engine fails to start.

5. to floodlight.

verb (used without object)

1. to flow or pour in or as if in a flood.

2. to rise in a flood; overflow.

3. Pathology.

   1. to suffer uterine hemorrhage, especially in connection with childbirth.

   2. to have an excessive menstrual flow.

Flood

¹

/ flʌd /

noun

1. Old Testament the flood extending over all the earth from which Noah and his family and livestock were saved in the ark. (Genesis 7–8); the Deluge

Flood

²

/ flʌd /

noun

1. Henry . 1732–91, Anglo-Irish politician: leader of the parliamentary opposition to English rule

flood

³

/ flʌd /

noun

1. 1. the inundation of land that is normally dry through the overflowing of a body of water, esp a river

   2. the state of a river that is at an abnormally high level (esp in the phrase in flood )

2. a great outpouring or flow

   a flood of words

3. 1. the rising of the tide from low to high water

   2. ( as modifier ) Compare ebb

      the flood tide

4. theatre short for floodlight

5. archaic,  a large body of water, as the sea or a river

verb

1. (of water) to inundate or submerge (land) or (of land) to be inundated or submerged

2. to fill or be filled to overflowing, as with a flood

   the children's home was flooded with gifts

3. (intr) to flow; surge

   relief flooded through him

4. to supply an excessive quantity of petrol to (a carburettor or petrol engine) or (of a carburettor, etc) to be supplied with such an excess

5. (intr) to rise to a flood; overflow

6. (intr)

   1. to bleed profusely from the uterus, as following childbirth

   2. to have an abnormally heavy flow of blood during a menstrual period

flood

1. A temporary rise of the water level, as in a river or lake or along a seacoast, resulting in its spilling over and out of its natural or artificial confines onto land that is normally dry. Floods are usually caused by excessive runoff from precipitation or snowmelt, or by coastal storm surges or other tidal phenomena.

2. ◆ Floods are sometimes described according to their statistical occurrence. A fifty-year flood is a flood having a magnitude that is reached in a particular location on average once every fifty years. In any given year there is a two percent statistical chance of the occurrence of a fifty-year flood and a one percent chance of a hundred-year flood.

Other Word Forms

• flooder noun
• floodless adjective
• floodable adjective
• floodlike adjective
• overflood verb
• preflood adjective
• underflood verb
• unflooded adjective
• well-flooded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Flood¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun flod, Old English flōd; cognate with Gothic flōdus, Old High German fluot ( German Flut )

Word History and Origins

Origin of Flood¹

Old English flōd ; related to Old Norse flōth , Gothic flōdus , Old High German fluot flood, Greek plōtos navigable; see _flow , _float

Synonym Study

Flood, flash flood, deluge, freshet, inundation refer to the overflowing of normally dry areas, often after heavy rains. Flood is usually applied to the overflow of a great body of water, as, for example, a river, although it may refer to any water that overflows an area: a flood along the river; a flood in a basement. A flash flood is one that comes so suddenly that no preparation can be made against it; it is usually destructive, but begins almost at once to subside: a flash flood caused by a downpour. Deluge suggests a great downpouring of water, sometimes with destruction: The rain came down in a deluge. Freshet suggests a small, quick overflow such as that caused by heavy rains: a freshet in an abandoned watercourse. Inundation, a literary word, suggests the covering of a great area of land by water: the inundation of thousands of acres.

Example Sentences

Tens of thousands of music fans are expected to flood through the gates at Radio 2 in the Park this weekend.

From BBC

He went to the trouble of printing off Rivers Agency flood maps, which are freely available online, and took them in with him.

From BBC

He said after studying the flood maps he was only partially reassured by what he heard at the event.

From BBC

In December 1964, when Stremberg was in high school, a major flood wiped out a Highway 101 bridge over the Klamath River, as well as much of the eponymous town.

From Los Angeles Times

A flood watch has been issued for a portion of Central California, including Kern River Valley, Grand Grove, Indian Wells Valley, Kings Canyon National Park, Mojave Desert, Tehachapi and the south end of the Upper Sierra, through Wednesday evening warning of excessive runoff that could result in rivers, creeks and streams flooding low-lying areas.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• choke 
• deluge 
• drown 
• engulf 
• fill 
• flow 
• overflow 
• overwhelm 
• rush 
• saturate 
• swamp 
• sweep