I. ˈfləd noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English flood, flod, from Old English flōd; akin to Old High German fluot flood, Old Norse flōth, Gothic flodus; derivatives from the root of English flow
1. archaic : a body of moving water (as a river or stream) especially when large
2.
a. : the flowing in of the tide : the semidiurnal swell or rise of water in the ocean
there is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood , leads on to fortune — Shakespeare
— opposed to ebb
b. : the highest point of a tide
the tide is nearly at the flood
3.
a. : a rising and overflowing of a body of water that covers land not usually under water : deluge , freshet
a covenant never to destroy the earth again by flood — John Milton
— used with the to identify a flood of especially severity or local interest
still date things around here from the flood , which was about the biggest excitement we ever had
or, usually cap., the worldwide deluge reported in Gen 7
the Flood in the days of Noah
b.
(1) : an outpouring of considerable extent
gave way in a flood of tears
(2) : a great downpour
raining in floods
4. : the element water
the rocky shore that forms a barrier between earth and flood
willing to go through fire and flood to gain his objective
5.
a. : a great stream of something (as light or lava) that flows in a steady course
b. : a large quantity widely diffused : superabundance
a flood of spurious bank notes
soon had a flood of invitations
6. : floodlight
Synonyms: see flow
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1.
a. : to cover or overwhelm with a flood : inundate , deluge
the river flooded the lowlands
b. : to cover or cause to be covered with water or other fluid
in some places it is economical to irrigate by flooding the fields at regular intervals
flood the bearings with oil
2. : to fill more or less completely with water or other fluid:
a. : to increase the elevation of the water in (a channel) especially in splashing logs or in nullifying the effectiveness of a fall over a dam ; also : splash
b. : to supply to (the carburetor of an internal-combustion engine) an excess of fuel sufficient to raise the fuel level in the float chamber above the fuel nozzle
c. : to fill (as a compartment of a submarine) with water admitted from the sea
d. : to fill (an oil sand) with water to expel the oil
e. : to apply excessive ink to in printing
the form was flooded and the halftones are too heavy and dark
3.
a. : to fill to full capacity or to excess
shoppers flooded the streets
afferent impulses flood the brain in certain hysteric states
flooding the mails with circulars
b. : to distribute something in or provide with something in large quantities
flooding the country with ads
the room was flooded with light
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to pour or issue like a flood
the milk flooded over the table
: overflow
wine flooding from the glass as her hand shook
b. : to become filled to excess with some fluid
our cellar floods after every heavy rain
c. of a tide : to run high
could tell how the tide was flooding — G.W.Brace
2. : to have an excessive menstrual flow or a uterine hemorrhage after childbirth