I. flood 1 W3 /flʌd/ BrE AmE verb
1 . COVER WITH WATER [intransitive and transitive] to cover a place with water, or to become covered with water:
Towns and cities all over the country have been flooded.
The houses down by the river flood quite regularly.
2 . RIVER [intransitive and transitive] if a river floods, it is too full, and spreads water over the land around it:
There are now fears that the river could flood.
3 . GO/ARRIVE IN LARGE NUMBERS [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to arrive or go somewhere in large numbers SYN pour , flow :
Refugees are still flooding across the border.
Donations have been flooding in since we launched the appeal.
4 . flood something with something to send a very large number of things to a place or organization:
a plan to flood the country with forged banknotes
5 . be flooded with something to receive so many letters, complaints, or inquiries that you cannot deal with them all easily:
We’ve been flooded with offers of help.
6 . flood the market to produce and sell a very large number of one type of thing, so that the price goes down
flood the market with
Car manufacturers have been accused of flooding the market with cheap cars.
7 . LIGHT [intransitive and transitive] if light floods a place or floods into it, it makes it very light and bright
flood into
Light flooded into the kitchen.
flood something with something
The morning sun flooded the room with a gentle light.
8 . FEELING [I always + adv/prep,T] if a feeling or memory floods over you or floods back, you feel or remember it very strongly
flood over/back
I felt happiness and relief flooding over me.
Memories of my time in Paris flooded back.
9 . ENGINE [intransitive and transitive] if an engine floods or if you flood it, it has too much petrol in it, so that it will not start
flood somebody ↔ out phrasal verb
to force someone to leave their home because of floods
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THESAURUS
▪ wet to put water or another liquid onto something to make it wet. In spoken English, people will often use get something wet rather than wet :
He wet the washcloth and washed Tom’s face.
▪ splash to make someone or something wet by making a lot of small drops of water fall onto them:
The kids were playing around in the pool, splashing each other.
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I accidentally splashed soup onto my shirt.
▪ soak to put something in water for a long time or to make something very wet – use this especially when something is put into water or the water comes up from underneath to make it wet:
Soak the beans overnight before cooking.
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The rain had come in through the bottom of our tent and completely soaked our clothes.
▪ drench to make someone or something extremely wet with a large amount of water – use this especially when water is poured or falls on something:
He drenched us all with the hose.
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Her shirt was drenched in sweat.
▪ saturate formal to completely cover or fill something with liquid, so that it is wet all the way through:
Heavy rains had saturated the ground.
▪ flood to cover an area of land with a large amount of water:
Farmers flood the fields in order to grow rice.
▪ moisten to make something slightly wet by putting a small amount of water or another liquid on it, especially to stop it from getting too dry:
Add just enough water to moisten the cake mixture.
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Tom paused and moistened his lips.
▪ dampen to make something slightly wet by putting a little water on it:
Rain came in through the window, dampening the curtains.
II. flood 2 BrE AmE noun
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: flod ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] a very large amount of water that covers an area that is usually dry:
The village was cut off by floods.
the worst floods for over fifty years
2 . [countable] a very large number of things or people that arrive at the same time
flood of
The UN appealed for help with the flood of refugees crossing the border.
3 . in floods of tears crying a lot:
She came downstairs in floods of tears.
4 . in flood a river that is in flood has much more water in it than usual
⇨ flash flood at ↑ flash 3 (1)
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THESAURUS
■ natural disasters
▪ earthquake a sudden shaking of the earth’s surface that often causes a lot of damage:
A powerful earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
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It was the biggest earthquake to hit the Pacific Northwest for 52 years.
▪ flood a very large amount of water that covers an area that is usually dry:
Bangladesh has been hit by a series of devastating floods (=very bad floods) .
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The crisis began with floods that covered one third of the countryside.
▪ drought a long period of dry weather when there is not enough water for plants and animals to live:
The country experienced its worst drought this century.
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In East Africa, three years of drought have left 10 million people in urgent need of food and water.
▪ famine a situation in which a large number of people have little or no food for a long time and many people die:
Poor harvests led to famine.
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4,000,000 people are threatened by famine in northern Ethiopia.
▪ hurricane a storm that has very strong fast winds and that moves over water – used about storms in the North Atlantic Ocean:
extreme weather such as hurricanes
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Hurricane Andrew left southern Florida in ruins.
▪ typhoon a violent tropical storm – used about storms in the Western Pacific Ocean:
A typhoon has hit the Philippines, lifting roofs off houses and uprooting trees.
▪ tsunami a very large wave, caused by extreme conditions such as an earthquake, which can cause a lot of damage when it reaches land:
Thousands of people were killed in the tsunami.
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Many Pacific earthquakes have generated tsunamis.