Adjacent Words

Overflow definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

OVERFLOW, v.t.
1. To spread over, as water; to inundate; to cover with water or other fluid.
2. To fill beyond the brim.
3. To deluge; to overwhelm; to cover, as with numbers.
The northern nations overflowed all christendom.
OVERFLOW, v.i.
1. To run over; to swell and run over the brim or banks.
2. To be abundant; to abound; to exuberate; as overflowing plenty.
O'VERFLOW, n. An inundation; also, superabundance.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a large flow [syn: flood, overflow, outpouring]
2: the occurrence of surplus liquid (as water) exceeding the limit or capacity [syn: overflow, runoff, overspill] v
1: flow or run over (a limit or brim) [syn: overflow, overrun, well over, run over, brim over]
2: overflow with a certain feeling; "The children bubbled over with joy"; "My boss was bubbling over with anger" [syn: bubble over, overflow, spill over]

Merriam Webster's

I. Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to cover with or as if with water ; inundate 2. to flow over the brim of 3. to cause to overflow intransitive verb 1. to flow over bounds 2. to fill a space to capacity and spread beyond its limits <the crowd overflowed into the street> II. noun Date: 1568 1. a flowing over ; inundation 2. something that flows over ; surplus 3. an outlet or receptacle for surplus liquid

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 tr. a flow over (the brim, limits, etc.). b flow over the brim or limits of. 2 intr. a (of a receptacle etc.) be so full that the contents overflow it (until the cup was overflowing). b (of contents) overflow a container. 3 tr. (of a crowd etc.) extend beyond the limits of (a room etc.). 4 tr. flood (a surface or area). 5 intr. (foll. by with) be full of. 6 intr. (of kindness, a harvest, etc.) be very abundant. --n. (also attrib.) 1 what overflows or is superfluous (mop up the overflow; put the overflow audience in another room). 2 an instance of overflowing (overflow occurs when both systems are run together). 3 (esp. in a bath or sink) an outlet for excess water etc. 4 Computing the generation of a number having more digits than the assigned location. Phrases and idioms: overflow meeting a meeting for those who cannot be accommodated at the main gathering. Etymology: OE oferflowan (as OVER-, FLOW)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Overflow O"ver*flow`, n. 1. A flowing over, as of water or other fluid; an inundation. --Bacon. 2. That which flows over; a superfluous portion; a superabundance. --Shak. 3. An outlet for the escape of surplus liquid. Overflow meeting, a meeting constituted of the surplus or overflow of another audience.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Overflow O`ver*flow", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Overflowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Overflowing.] [AS. oferfl?wan. See Over, and Flow.] 1. To flow over; to cover woth, or as with, water or other fluid; to spread over; to inundate; to overwhelm. The northern nations overflowed all Christendom. --Spenser. 2. To flow over the brim of; to fill more than full.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Overflow O`ver*flow", v. i. 1. To run over the bounds. 2. To be superabundant; to abound. --Rogers.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(overflowed) 1. If a liquid or a river overflows, it flows over the edges of the container or place it is in. Pour in some of the syrup, but not all of it, as it will probably overflow... Rivers and streams have overflowed their banks in countless places. VERB: no passive, V, V n 2. If a place or container is overflowing with people or things, it is too full of them. The great hall was overflowing with people... Jails and temporary detention camps are overflowing... VERB: usu cont, V with n, V 3. The overflow is the extra people or things that something cannot contain or deal with because it is not large enough. Tents have been set up next to hospitals to handle the overflow... N-COUNT: usu the N in sing 4. An overflow is a hole or pipe through which liquid can flow out of a container when it gets too full. N-COUNT 5. If a place or container is filled to overflowing, it is so full of people or things that no more can fit in. The kitchen garden was full to overflowing with fresh vegetables... PHRASE: adj PHR, PHR after v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Inundate, flow over. 2. Deluge, flood, overwhelm, cover, overspread, overrun. II. v. n. Overrun, run over. III. n. 1. Inundation. 2. Superabundance, exuberance, luxuriance, profusion, excess, surplus, overflowing, copiousness, redundancy.

Moby Thesaurus

abound, abundance, affluence, alluvion, alluvium, ample sufficiency, ampleness, amplitude, avalanche, bonanza, bountifulness, bountiousness, bristle with, bumper crop, cascade, cataclysm, cataract, cloud of words, congestion, copiousness, crawl with, creep with, deluge, diffuseness, diffusion, diffusiveness, drown, effusion, effusiveness, engorgement, engulf, engulfment, extravagance, exuberance, exuberate, fecundity, fertility, fill, flood, flooding, flow, fluency, foison, formlessness, full measure, fullness, generosity, generousness, glut, great abundance, great plenty, gush, gushing, hyperemia, inundate, inundation, know no bounds, landslide, lavishness, liberality, liberalness, logorrhea, lots, luxuriance, luxuriate, macrology, maximum, more than enough, much, myriad, myriads, numerousness, opulence, opulency, outpour, outpouring, overabound, overabundance, overbrim, overbrimming, overburden, overcharge, overfill, overflowing, overfreight, overfullness, overgrow, overkill, overload, overmuch, overplus, overrun, overrunning, overspill, overspread, overswarm, overweight, overwhelm, palilogy, plenitude, plenteousness, plentifulness, plenty, pleonasm, plethora, pour, pour out, pour over, prevalence, prodigality, productiveness, productivity, profuseness, profusion, proliferate, prolificacy, prolificity, pullulate, quantities, rain, rampancy, rankness, redundancy, reiteration, reiterativeness, repetition for effect, repetitiveness, repleteness, repletion, rich harvest, rich vein, richness, riot, riotousness, run over, run riot, satiety, saturation, scads, shower, slop, slosh, spate, spill, spill out, spill over, spillage, stream, submerge, submersion, substantiality, substantialness, superabound, superabundance, superfluity, superflux, supersaturation, surcharge, surfeit, surplus, surplusage, swamp, swarm, swarm with, sweep, talkativeness, tautology, teem, teem with, teemingness, the Deluge, the Flood, tirade, torrent, washout, wealth, well, whelm, whelming