flood

• floud (obsolete)

From Middle English flod, from Old English flōd, from Proto-West Germanic *flōdu, from Proto-Germanic *flōduz, from *plew- (“to flow”). Cognate with Scots flude, fluid, Saterland Frisian Floud, Dutch vloed, German Flut, Danish flod, Icelandic flóð, and Gothic 𐍆𐌻𐍉𐌳𐌿𐍃 (flōdus).

• enPR: flŭd, IPA^(key): /flʌd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌd

flood (plural floods)

1. An overflow (usually disastrous) of water from a lake or other body of water due to excessive rainfall or other input of water.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     a covenant never to destroy the earth again by flood

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, 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.

   • 2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28:

     Floods in 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.

   • 2020 March 29, “China enters flood season”, in China Internet Information Center‎^[1]:

     China's Ministry of Water Resources Saturday warned that floods are 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 its flood season on Saturday, four days earlier than previous years, and the country may suffer from more and stronger rain as well as floods with more extreme weather forecast for the flood season, the ministry warned.

2. (figuratively) A large number or quantity of anything appearing more rapidly than can easily be dealt with.

   a flood of complaints

   • 2016 December 6, Francis Fukuyama, “The Dangers of Disruption”, in The 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 the flood of refugees in Europe.

3. The flowing in of the tide, opposed to the ebb.
   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     There is a tide in the affairs of men, / Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.

   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 217:

     It was ebb tide when she touched, and it was supposed that when the flood made she would float off again.

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 193:

     The flood had 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. A floodlight.
5. Menstrual discharge; menses.
6. (obsolete) Water as opposed to land.
   • 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise 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 the flood, under amazement of their hideous change.

flood (third-person singular simple present floods, present participle flooding, simple past and past participle flooded)

1. To overflow, as by water from excessive rainfall.

   People flooded into the streets in protest.

   The basement flooded with rainwater.

2. To cover or partly fill as if by a flood.

   The floor was flooded with beer.

   They flooded the 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 was flooded with listeners making complaints.

   • 2011 October 1, David Ornstein, “Blackburn 0 - 4 Man City”, in BBC Sport‎^[3]:

     Blackburn offered nothing going forward in the opening period and that continued after the break, encouraging City to flood forward.

   • 2020 April 22, “Glenfinnan turns blue to honour NHS workers”, in Rail, page 9:

     The iconic Glenfinnan Viaduct was flooded with blue light to show support for the National Health Service staff treating Coronavirus patients.

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”, in alt.fan.furry (Usenet):

     There's also a spam filter in the code now, so if someone attempts to flood people's screens with macros or a bot, everything after the first few lines is thrown away.

5. To bleed profusely, as after childbirth.

• (overflow): overfill
• (cover): inundate
• (provide with large number): inundate, swamp, deluge
• (overwhelm a chatroom or forum): spam

• (antonym(s) of “overflow”): drain

• of old

flood

1. Alternative form of flod

Unadapted borrowing from English flood.

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈflɐd͡ʒ/

flood m (plural floods)

1. (Internet slang) a flood of superfluous text messages

• floodar