Meaning & use
flood
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
An event in which water overflows and covers land that is normally dry.
Grammar: Countable for events: a flood, the floods; uncountable use is less common except in phrases like flood damage.
Patterns
- a flood hits somewhere
- flood damage
- flash flood
- in a flood
The flood forced families from their homes.
Flash floods made the road impassable.
Insurance covered part of the flood damage.
nouncountablefigurative
A very large, overwhelming amount of something arriving at once.
Grammar: Figurative; usually singular with of: a flood of messages.
Patterns
- a flood of something
- a flood of complaints
- a flood of memories
The announcement brought a flood of questions.
She felt a flood of relief when the test ended.
A flood of memories returned at the old house.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To cover land or a place with overflowing water, or to become covered in this way.
Grammar: Transitive: The river flooded the fields. Intransitive: The fields flooded.
Patterns
- flood somewhere
- flood something with water
- be flooded
Heavy rain flooded the lower fields.
The river flooded several villages after the dam opened.
Water flooded into the garage through the door.
verbtransitive or intransitivefigurative
To arrive or send in very large numbers, overwhelming a place or person.
Grammar: Often with with or into: flood the office with emails; emails flooded in.
Patterns
- flood in
- flood somewhere with something
- be flooded with something
Donations flooded in after the appeal.
Customers flooded the site when tickets went on sale.
The clinic was flooded with calls all morning.
Word forms
| third person singular | floods |
|---|---|
| past tense | flooded |
| past participle | flooded |
| -ing form | flooding |
Common combinations
- flash flood
- A flash flood swept through the canyon without warning.
- flood damage
- The town is still repairing flood damage from spring.
- a flood of complaints
- The new fee produced a flood of complaints.
- be flooded with calls
- After the broadcast, the helpline was flooded with calls.
- flood in
- Applications flooded in once the deadline was extended.
Synonyms and how they differ
- deluge
- Deluge is stronger or more literary for both water and overwhelming amounts.
- inundate
- Inundate often means overwhelm with work, requests, or water; flood is more everyday.
- overflow
- Overflow describes spilling beyond a limit; flood stresses resulting coverage or overwhelming quantity.
Opposites
Word family
- flooding noun
- The process of being covered by water or overwhelmed.
- floodwater noun
- Water that has overflowed, often dangerous or dirty.
- floodlit adjective
- Lit by strong lamps, from floodlight, a different sense family.
Commonly confused: flood or flowed? flood or flaw?
flood vs flowed
Flood is pronounced like bud; flowed is the past of flow and rhymes with code.
flood vs flaw
A flaw is a defect; a flood is water or an overwhelming amount.
Practice
Which sentence uses flood figuratively?
Choose one answer.
A flood of applications means an overwhelming number, not water. The other options describe actual water overflowing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “flood”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.