overflow

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overflow

  • /ˈəʊvəˌfləʊ/
  • /ˈoʊvɚˌfloʊ/
  • /ˌəʊvəˈfləʊ/
  • /ˌoʊvɚˈfloʊ/

Rhymes with -əʊ

Where it comes from

From Middle English overflowen, from Old English oferflōwan, equivalent to over- + flow.

noun overflows

  1. countable, uncountable The spillage resultant from overflowing. High crests of these overflows were: Manhattan, 23.0 feet, 8.0 above bankful, on June 16–17; Wamego, 20.8 feet, 4.8 feet above bankful, on June 17; Topeka, 26.8 feet, 5.8 feet above bankful, on June 17; […]
  2. countable, uncountable An outlet for escape of excess material.
  3. countable, uncountable Excess, superabundance GCN: Do you have an overflow of scripts? JG: I have more than we could ever do, certainly. But there's never an overflow of quality, and quality is really hard to come by, real quality.
  4. countable, uncountable The situation where a value exceeds the available numeric range.

verb overflows · overflowing · overflowed · overflown

  1. transitive To flow over the brim of (a container). The river overflowed the levee into the road.
  2. transitive To cover with a liquid, literally or figuratively. The flash flood overflowed most of the parkland and some homes.
  3. transitive To cause an overflow.
  4. intransitive To flow over the brim of a container. The waters overflowed into the Ninth Ward.
  5. intransitive To be subject to a load that exceeds limits or capacity. The hospital ER was overflowing with flu cases.
  6. figuratively, intransitive To have something in superabundance; to abound in something. I see and feel that I want the first requisite — a heart overflowing with Divine love towards sinners
  7. ambitransitive To (cause to) exceed the available numeric range. Calculating 255+1 will overflow an eight-bit byte.

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