(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If a liquid, gas, or electrical current ~s somewhere, it moves there steadily and continuously.
A stream ~ed gently down into the valley...
The current ~s into electric motors that drive the wheels.
...compressor stations that keep the gas ~ing.
VERB: V adv/prep, V adv/prep, V
•
Flow is also a noun.
It works only in the veins, where the blood ~ is slower.
N-VAR: with supp
2.
If a number of people or things ~ from one place to another, they move there steadily in large groups, usually without stopping.
Large numbers of refugees continue to ~ from the troubled region into the no-man’s land...
VERB: V prep/adv
•
Flow is also a noun.
She watched the frantic ~ of cars and buses along the street...
N-VAR: with supp
3.
If information or money ~s somewhere, it moves freely between people or organizations.
A lot of this information ~ed through other police departments...
An interest rate reduction is needed to get more money ~ing and create jobs.
VERB: V prep/adv, V
•
Flow is also a noun.
...the opportunity to control the ~ of information.
N-VAR: with supp
see also cash ~
4.
Someone who is in full ~ is talking easily and continuously and seems likely to go on talking for some time.
He had been replying for some 40 minutes already and was still in full ~.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
5.
If you say that an activity, or the person who is performing the activity, is in full ~, you mean that the activity has started and is being carried out with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm.
Lunch at Harry’s Bar was in full ~ when Irene made a splendid entrance...
PHRASE: v-link PHR
6.
If you go with the ~, you let things happen or let other people tell you what to do, rather than trying to control what happens yourself.
There’s nothing I can do about the problem, so I might as well go with the ~.
PHRASE: V inflects