overflow

[ verb oh-ver-floh; noun oh-ver-floh ]

verb (used without object)

, o·ver·flowed, o·ver·flown, o·ver·flow·ing.

1. to flow or run over, as rivers or water:

   After the thaw, the river overflows and causes great damage.

2. to have the contents flowing over or spilling, as an overfull container:

   Stop pouring or your glass is going to overflow.

3. to pass from one place or part to another as if flowing from an overfull space:

   The population overflowed into the adjoining territory.

4. to be filled or supplied with in great measure:

   a heart overflowing with gratitude; a region overflowing with orchards and vineyards.

verb (used with object)

, o·ver·flowed, o·ver·flown, o·ver·flow·ing.

1. to flow over; flood; inundate:

   The river overflowed several farms.

2. to flow over or beyond (the brim, banks, borders, etc.).
3. to cause to overflow.
4. to flow over the edge or brim of (a receptacle, container, etc.).
5. to fill to the point of running over.

noun

1. an overflowing:

   the annual overflow of the Nile.

2. something that flows or runs over:

   to carry off the overflow from a fountain.

3. a portion crowded out of an overfilled place:

   to house the overflow of the museum's collection in another building.

4. an excess or superabundance:

   an overflow of applicants for the job.

   Synonyms: glut, flood, plethora, surplus, overabundance

5. an outlet or receptacle for excess liquid:

   The tank is equipped with an overflow.

overflow

verb

1. to flow or run over (a limit, brim, bank, etc)
2. to fill or be filled beyond capacity so as to spill or run over
3. intrusually foll bywith to be filled with happiness, tears, etc
4. tr to spread or cover over; flood or inundate

noun

1. overflowing matter, esp liquid
2. any outlet that enables surplus liquid to be discharged or drained off, esp one just below the top of a tank or cistern
3. the amount by which a limit, capacity, etc, is exceeded
4. computing a condition that occurs when numeric operations produce results too large to store in the memory space assigned to it

Other Words From

• over·flowa·ble adjective
• over·flowing·ly adverb
• uno·ver·flowing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of overflow¹

before 900; Middle English overflowen, Old English oferflōwan. See over-, flow

Example Sentences

He went on to have a career as an extreme-cleaning specialist and professional downsizer who now appears on two TV series about people dealing with an overflow of stuff.

From Washington Post

You can get into overflow and fill them with water at -30 degrees, take them off, dump them out, put them back on, and your feet will warm back up.

From Popular-Science

We vetted and contracted backup factories who met our high criteria to help work through backlog in case of overflow.

From Fortune

Heavy rains cause overflows that send billions of gallons of effluent into local waterways.

From Washington Post

Those in rural areas, in particular, have been grappling with overflow conditions because some of their larger partners in urban centers have stopped accepting transfers.

From Washington Post

Today, sewage overflow is rarely an issue in developed cities.

From The Daily Beast

Pope Francis urged the local parish to open up a closed monastery on the island to house the overflow.

From The Daily Beast

“Barack Obama believes America is in need of great change,” Santorum said to the overflow crowd of 2,500.

From The Daily Beast

The overflow crowds were thinning out—and he was becoming less of a novelty.

From The Daily Beast

An hour to the north, at the rural Tilton School, Mitt Romney faced his own overflow crowd beneath quietly humming ceiling fans.

From The Daily Beast

They would not then have been so annoyed by an overflow of traders nor been rendered the laughing-stock of the community.

From Project Gutenberg

The owners of a well may prevent its overflow and thereby cut off water that formerly ran into a stream.

From Project Gutenberg

How was he to know that these tears were the overflow of a heart that was on the point of bursting from sheer joy?

From Project Gutenberg

During the fortnight which followed the overflow, every day was employed by Madame Bastien, her son, and David in benevolent work.

From Project Gutenberg

It would often overflow the country entirely, were it not that the banks are guarded by dikes, like the dikes of the sea.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• brim
• bubble over
• cascade
• deluge
• drain
• drown
• engulf
• gush
• inundate
• leak
• overrun
• pour
• run over
• soak
• spill
• spill over
• submerge
• swamp