# flood

Pronunciation: say "FLUD" /flʌd/

## Noun

1. An overflow of water onto normally dry land, usually caused by heavy rain or another large input of water.
   - Simple: A large amount of water that covers land that is usually dry.
   - _The flood swept away bridges and left thousands without shelter._
   - _Heavy monsoon rains caused a flood that submerged the entire district._
3. A large number or quantity of something arriving more quickly than can easily be handled.
   - Simple: A very large number of things arriving so fast that they are hard to handle.
   - _The post office struggled with a flood of packages before the holidays._
   - _Her debut novel was met with a flood of reviews within days._
6. The inflow of the tide as it rises, the opposite of the ebb.
   - Simple: The rising of the sea as the tide comes in toward the shore.
   - _The fishing fleet timed its departure to ride the flood into open water._
   - _During the flood, seawater moves far up the estuary._
7. A large lamp that casts a broad, bright beam, used to light up stages, fields, or buildings.
   - Simple: A large lamp that shines a wide, bright beam of light.
   - _A single flood lit the entire courtyard for the evening event._
   - _The groundskeeper switched off the floods after the match ended._
9. Menstrual discharge; the monthly flow of blood from the womb.
   - Simple: Blood that leaves a woman's body during her monthly period.
   - _The young woman dreaded her flood, which left her weak for days._
   - _An unusually heavy flood that month sent her to the doctor._

## Verb

2. To overflow, as when water spreads beyond its normal limits after heavy rain.
   - Simple: To overflow with water, usually after heavy rain.
   - _Low-lying fields flood whenever the river rises after a storm._
   - _Melting snow can flood entire valleys in a single afternoon._
4. To overwhelm someone or something with more of something than can easily be handled.
   - Simple: To give someone or something so much of a thing that they cannot deal with it all.
   - _Fans flooded the box office with calls after tickets sold out._
   - _A single viral post can flood a small shop with orders overnight._
5. To cover or partly fill a space as if by a large inflow of water.
   - Simple: To cover or partly fill a space the way rising water would.
   - _Warm light flooded the kitchen at sunrise._
   - _Pull back the blinds and let the morning sun flood the studio._
8. To post many lines of text to a chat system rapidly, disrupting the conversation.
   - Simple: To send so many messages to a chat so fast that no one can talk.
   - _Spammers flood the room with copied text to drown out everyone else._
   - _She was banned for trying to flood the chat during the stream._
10. To bleed profusely, especially in the period following childbirth.
   - Simple: To lose blood very heavily, as a woman may after giving birth.
   - _She started to flood within an hour of delivery._
   - _Midwives feared the patient would flood before help arrived._

## Noun

11. The water of the sea or rivers, considered in contrast to the land. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The sea or other water, thought of as the opposite of dry land.
   - _They trusted their lives to the flood, with no land in sight for days._
   - _The old sailor had spent more years on the flood than on dry ground._

## Origin

From Middle English flod, from Old English flōd, going back through Proto-Germanic *flōduz to the root *plew- ("to flow"). It is related to Dutch vloed, German Flut, Danish flod, and Icelandic flóð.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/flood (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).