What does "flood" mean?
An overflow of a large amount of water (usually disastrous) from a lake or other body of water due to excessive rainfall or other input of water.
Flood
/flʌd/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An overflow of a large amount of water (usually disastrous) from a lake or other body of water due to excessive rainfall or other input of water.
- Grammar: flood is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: deluge, inundation, overflow, abundance.
- Useful contrasts: bail, bailing, bails.
- Usage evidence: The bridge was carried away by the flood.
How to use "flood"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "flood" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "flood" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "flood" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "flood" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "flood" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "deluge" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "flood", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An overflow of a large amount of water (usually disastrous) from a lake or other body of water due to excessive rainfall or other input of water.
"a covenant never to destroy the earth again by flood"
- 2 a large flow wordnet
- 3 A large number or quantity of anything appearing more rapidly than can easily be dealt with. figuratively
"a flood of complaints"
- 4 the act of flooding; filling to overflowing wordnet
- 5 The flowing in of the tide, opposed to the ebb.
"There is a tide in the affairs of men, / Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 light that is a source of artificial illumination having a broad beam; used in photography wordnet
- 7 A floodlight.
- 8 the occurrence of incoming water (between a low tide and the following high tide) wordnet
- 9 Menstrual discharge; menses.
- 10 the rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land wordnet
- 11 Water as opposed to land. obsolete
"Who beheld from the safe shore their floating carcasses and broken chariot-wheels. So thick bestrown, abject and lost, lay these, covering the flood, under amazement of their hideous change."
- 12 an overwhelming number or amount wordnet
Verb
- 1 To overflow, as by water from excessive rainfall.
"People flooded into the streets in protest."
- 2 cover with liquid, usually water wordnet
- 3 To cover or partly fill as if by a flood.
"The floor was flooded with beer."
- 4 become filled to overflowing wordnet
- 5 To provide (someone or something) with a larger number or quantity of something than can easily be dealt with. figuratively
"The station's switchboard was flooded with listeners making complaints."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 fill quickly beyond capacity; as with a liquid wordnet
- 7 To paste numerous lines of text to (a chat system) in order to disrupt the conversation. Internet, ambitransitive
"There's also a spam filter in the code now, so if someone attempts to flood people's screens with macros or a bot, everything after the first few lines is thrown away."
- 8 supply with an excess of wordnet
- 9 To bleed profusely, as after childbirth.
Proper Noun
- 1 The flood referred to in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible.
"The result of the Dispensation of Conscience was that “all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth;” that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually ;” and God closed the second testing of the natural man with judgment—the Flood.[…] Out of the fearful judgment of the Flood God saved eight persons to whom, after the waters were assuaged, He gave the purified earth with ample power to govern it. This, Noah and his descendants were responsible to do."
- 2 A surname.
Example
"The bridge was carried away by the flood."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "flood"?
Common synonyms include: deluge, inundation, overflow, abundance, access, accession.
How do you use "flood" in a sentence?
The bridge was carried away by the flood.
How do you pronounce "flood"?
Pronounced /flʌd/.
Etymology
From Middle English flod, from Old English flōd, from Proto-West Germanic *flōdu, from Proto-Germanic *flōduz, from *plew- (“to flow”). Cognate with Scots flude, fluid, Saterland Frisian Floud, Dutch vloed, German Flut, Danish flod, Icelandic flóð, and Gothic 𐍆𐌻𐍉𐌳𐌿𐍃 (flōdus).