— floodable , adj. — flooder , n. — floodless , adj. — floodlike , adj.
/flud/ , n.
1. a great flowing or overflowing of water, esp. over land not usually submerged.
2. any great outpouring or stream: a flood of tears.
3. the Flood , the universal deluge recorded as having occurred in the days of Noah. Gen. 7.
4. the rise or flowing in of the tide (opposed to ebb ).
5. a floodlight.
6. Archaic. a large body of water.
v.t.
7. to overflow in or cover with a flood; fill to overflowing: Don't flood the bathtub.
8. to cover or fill, as if with a flood: The road was flooded with cars.
9. to overwhelm with an abundance of something: to be flooded with mail.
10. Auto. to supply too much fuel to (the carburetor), so that the engine fails to start.
11. to floodlight.
v.i.
12. to flow or pour in or as if in a flood.
13. to rise in a flood; overflow.
14. Pathol.
a. to suffer uterine hemorrhage, esp. in connection with childbirth.
b. to have an excessive menstrual flow.
[ bef. 900; ME flod (n.), OE flod; c. Goth flodus, OHG fluot (G Flut ) ]
Syn. 1. FLOOD, FLASH FLOOD, DELUGE, FRESHET, INUNDATION refer to the overflowing of normally dry areas, often after heavy rains. FLOOD is usually applied to the overflow of a great body of water, as, for example, a river, although it may refer to any water that overflows an area: a flood along the river; a flood in a basement. A FLASH FLOOD is one that comes so suddenly that no preparation can be made against it; it is usually destructive, but begins almost at once to subside: a flash flood caused by a downpour.
DELUGE suggests a great downpouring of water, sometimes with destruction: The rain came down in a deluge. FRESHET suggests a small, quick overflow such as that caused by heavy rains: a freshet in an abandoned watercourse. INUNDATION, a literary word, suggests the covering of a great area of land by water: the inundation of thousands of acres. 8, 9 . inundate, deluge.