flood

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See also:Flood

English

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EnglishWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishflod,fromOld Englishflōd,fromProto-West Germanic*flōdu,fromProto-Germanic*flōduz,from*plew-(“to flow”).Cognate withScotsflude,fluid,Saterland FrisianFloud,Dutchvloed,GermanFlut,Danishflod,Icelandicflóð,andGothic𐍆𐌻𐍉𐌳𐌿𐍃(flōdus).

Pronunciation

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  • enPR:flŭd,IPA(key):/flʌd/
  • Audio(US):(file)
  • Rhymes:-ʌd

Noun

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flood(pluralfloods)

  1. An overflow (usually disastrous) ofwaterfrom alakeor otherbody of waterdue to excessiverainfallor other input of water.
    • 1667,John Milton,“Book X”, inParadise Lost.[…],London:[…][Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker[…];[a]nd by Robert Boulter[…];[a]nd Matthias Walker,[…],→OCLC;republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books:[…],London: Basil Montagu Pickering[…],1873,→OCLC:
      a covenant never to destroy the earth again byflood
    • 1910,Emerson Hough,chapter II, inThe Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise,Indianapolis, Ind.:The Bobbs-Merrill Company,→OCLC:
      Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surgingfloods,were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.
    • 2013June 29, “High and wet”,inThe Economist,volume407,number8842,page28:
      Floodsin northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.
    • 2020March 29, “China enters flood season”, inChina Internet Information Center‎[1]:
      China's Ministry of Water Resources Saturday warned thatfloodsare expected to hit the country and called on relevant departments to make preparation.
      Heavy rains have hit parts of southern, eastern and central China since Wednesday, pushing water levels in some rivers well above warning lines, the ministry said.
      China entered itsfloodseason on Saturday, four days earlier than previous years, and the country may suffer from more and stronger rain as well asfloodswith more extreme weather forecast for thefloodseason, the ministry warned.
  2. (figuratively)A large number or quantity of anything appearing more rapidly than can easily be dealt with.
    afloodof complaints
    • 2016December 6,Francis Fukuyama,“The Dangers of Disruption”, inThe New York Times‎[2]:
      Deregulation of financial markets laid the groundwork for the subprime crisis in the United States, while a badly designed euro contributed to the debt crisis in Greece, and the Schengen system of open borders made it difficult to control thefloodof refugees in Europe.
  3. The flowing in of thetide,opposed to theebb.
    • 1599(first performance),William Shakespeare,“The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act IV, scene iii]:
      There is a tide in the affairs of men, / Which, taken at theflood,leads on to fortune.
    • 1887,Harriet W. Daly,Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia,page217:
      It was ebb tide when she touched, and it was supposed that when thefloodmade she would float off again.
    • 1899February,Joseph Conrad,“The Heart of Darkness”,inBlackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine,volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company,[…],→OCLC,part I,page193:
      Thefloodhad made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for us was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide.
  4. Afloodlight.
  5. Menstrual discharge;menses.
  6. (obsolete)Wateras opposed toland.
    • 1667,John Milton,“(please specify the page number)”,inParadise Lost.[…],London:[…][Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker[…];[a]nd by Robert Boulter[…];[a]nd Matthias Walker,[…],→OCLC;republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books:[…],London: Basil Montagu Pickering[…],1873,→OCLC:
      Who beheld from the safe shore their floating carcasses and broken chariot-wheels. So thick bestrown, abject and lost, lay these, covering theflood,under amazement of their hideous change.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Verb

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flood(third-person singular simple presentfloods,present participleflooding,simple past and past participleflooded)

  1. Tooverflow,as by water from excessive rainfall.
  2. To cover or partly fill as if by a flood.
    The floor wasfloodedwith beer.
    Theyfloodedthe room with sewage.
  3. (figuratively)To provide (someone or something) with a larger number or quantity of something than can easily be dealt with.
    The station's switchboard wasfloodedwith listeners making complaints.
    • 2011October 1, David Ornstein, “Blackburn 0 - 4 Man City”, inBBC Sport‎[3]:
      Blackburn offered nothing going forward in the opening period and that continued after the break, encouraging City tofloodforward.
    • 2020April 22, “Glenfinnan turns blue to honour NHS workers”, inRail,page 9:
      The iconicGlenfinnanViaduct wasfloodedwith blue light to show support for the National Health Service staff treatingCoronaviruspatients.
  4. (Internet,transitive,intransitive)To paste numerous lines of text to (a chat system) in order to disrupt the conversation.
    • 1998,Dr. Cat, “Furry web site plug”, inalt.fan.furry(Usenet):
      There's also a spam filter in the code now, so if someone attempts tofloodpeople's screens with macros or a bot, everything after the first few lines is thrown away.
  5. Tobleedprofusely, as afterchildbirth.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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  • (antonym(s) of“overflow”):drain

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑1.01.11.21.31.4Oxford-Paravia Concise - Dizionario Inglese-Italiano e Italiano-Inglese.Edited by Maria Cristina Bareggi. Torino: Paravia, 2003 (in collaboration with Oxford University Press).ISBN 8839551107.Online versionhere

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Noun

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flood

  1. Alternative form offlod

Portuguese

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowingfromEnglishflood.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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floodm(pluralfloods)

  1. (Internetslang)afloodofsuperfluoustext messages
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