FLOOD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does flood mean? 

• FLOOD (noun)
  The noun FLOOD has 6 senses:

1. the rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land

2. an overwhelming number or amount

3. light that is a source of artificial illumination having a broad beam; used in photography

4. a large flow

5. the act of flooding; filling to overflowing

6. the occurrence of incoming water (between a low tide and the following high tide)

  Familiarity information: FLOOD used as a noun is common.

• FLOOD (verb)
  The verb FLOOD has 4 senses:

1. fill quickly beyond capacity; as with a liquid

2. cover with liquid, usually water

3. supply with an excess of

4. become filled to overflowing

  Familiarity information: FLOOD used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLOOD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

alluvion; deluge; flood; inundation

Context example:

plains fertilized by annual inundations

Hypernyms ("flood" is a kind of...):

geological phenomenon (a natural phenomenon involving the structure or composition of the earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flood"):

debacle (flooding caused by a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river during the spring or summer)

flash flood; flashflood (a sudden local flood of great volume and short duration)

Noachian deluge; Noah's flood; Noah and the Flood; the Flood ((Biblical) the great deluge that is said in the Book of Genesis to have occurred in the time of Noah; it was brought by God upon the earth because of the wickedness of human beings)

Derivation:

flood (cover with liquid, usually water)

flood (become filled to overflowing)

flood (fill quickly beyond capacity; as with a liquid)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An overwhelming number or amount

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

deluge; flood; inundation; torrent

Context example:

a torrent of abuse

Hypernyms ("flood" is a kind of...):

batch; deal; flock; good deal; great deal; hatful; heap; lot; mass; mess; mickle; mint; mountain; muckle; passel; peck; pile; plenty; pot; quite a little; raft; sight; slew; spate; stack; tidy sum; wad ((often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent)

Derivation:

flood (supply with an excess of)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Light that is a source of artificial illumination having a broad beam; used in photography

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

flood; flood lamp; floodlight; photoflood

Hypernyms ("flood" is a kind of...):

light; light source (any device serving as a source of illumination)

Holonyms ("flood" is a part of...):

photographic equipment (equipment used by a photographer)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A large flow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

flood; outpouring; overflow

Hypernyms ("flood" is a kind of...):

flow; stream (the act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flood"):

effusion (flow under pressure)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The act of flooding; filling to overflowing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

flood; flowage

Hypernyms ("flood" is a kind of...):

filling (the act of filling something)

Derivation:

flood (become filled to overflowing)

flood (fill quickly beyond capacity; as with a liquid)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The occurrence of incoming water (between a low tide and the following high tide)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

flood; flood tide; rising tide

Context example:

a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune

Hypernyms ("flood" is a kind of...):

tide (the periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the moon)

• FLOOD (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they flood    ... he / she / it floods   
Past simple: flooded   
Past participle: flooded   
-ing form: flooding   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fill quickly beyond capacity; as with a liquid

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

deluge; flood; inundate; swamp

Context example:

The images flooded his mind

Hypernyms (to "flood" is one way to...):

fill; fill up; make full (make full, also in a metaphorical sense)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something with something

Also:

flood in (arrive in great numbers)

Derivation:

flood (the act of flooding; filling to overflowing)

flood (the rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land)

flooding (a technique used in behavior therapy; client is flooded with experiences of a particular kind until becoming either averse to them or numbed to them)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cover with liquid, usually water

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The broken vein had flooded blood in her eyes

Hypernyms (to "flood" is one way to...):

cover; spread over (form a cover over)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "flood"):

flow (cover or swamp with water)

deluge; inundate; submerge (fill or cover completely, usually with water)

drench; swamp (drench or submerge or be drenched or submerged)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Also:

flood out (charge someone with too many tasks)

Derivation:

flood (the rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Supply with an excess of

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

flood; glut; oversupply

Context example:

Glut the country with cheap imports from the Orient

Hypernyms (to "flood" is one way to...):

furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody with something

Derivation:

flood (an overwhelming number or amount)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Become filled to overflowing

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Our basement flooded during the heavy rains

Hypernyms (to "flood" is one way to...):

fill; fill up (become full)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

flood (the act of flooding; filling to overflowing)

flood (the rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land)

 Context examples 

But in the simulations, the birds were often able to recover from large storms within 20 years, even when populations continued to decline from other threats, such as regular flooding.

(Coastal birds can weather the storm, but not the sea, National Science Foundation)

He sat down, his ears keenly alert to the flood of protest and indignation his words had created.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Make sure you have the insurance you need, including special types, like flood insurance.

(Disaster Preparation and Recovery, Federal Emergency Management Agency)

Mr. Soames was somewhat overwhelmed by this flood of information.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A flood of associations, visions of various ways he had made the acquaintance of women, rushed into his mind and threatened to swamp it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

And then, that night, it rained, and she was flooded out and driven back into the boat.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Damage from earthquakes can also lead to floods or fires.

(Earthquakes, Federal Emergency Management Agency)

The radiation field created by a flood source for purposes of obtaining a flood image.

(Flood Field, NCI Thesaurus)

There are periods of the year that should be dry, when communities are still experiencing flooding because of the change in rain patterns, she says.

(Amazon fish ‘face new threats’, SciDev.Net)

Then another element, aluminum, props the cell wall open, allowing a flood of iron to enter the cell.

(Scientists discover how blue and green clays kill bacteria, NSF)