Flood , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flooded;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Flooding.]
1. To overflow; to inundate; to deluge; as,
the swollen river flooded the valley.
2. To cause or permit to be
inundated; to fill or cover with
water or other fluid; as, to flood arable land for irrigation; to fill to excess or to
its full capacity; as, to flood a country with a depreciated currency.
Flood (?), n. [OE.
flod a flowing, stream, flood, AS. flōd; akin to D.
vloed, OS. flōd,
OHG. fluot, G. flut, Icel.
flōð, Sw. & Dan. flod, Goth. flōdus; from the root of E. flow. √80. See Flow, v. i.]
1.
A great flow of water; a body
of moving water; the flowing stream, as of a river; especially, a body of water, rising, swelling, and overflowing land not usually thus covered; a deluge; a freshet; an inundation.
A covenant never to destroy
The earth again by flood.
Milton. 2. The flowing in of
the tide; the semidiurnal swell or rise
of water in
the ocean; -- opposed to ebb; as, young flood; high flood.
There is a tide in the
affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
Shak. 3. A great flow or
stream of any fluid substance; as, a flood of light; a
flood of lava; hence, a
great quantity widely diffused; an overflowing; a superabundance; as, a flood of bank notes; a flood of paper currency.
4. Menstrual disharge;
menses. Harvey.
Flood anchor (Naut.)
, the anchor by which a ship is held
while the tide is rising. -- Flood fence, a fence so secured that it will
not be swept away by
a flood. -- Flood gate, a gate for
shutting out, admitting, or
releasing, a body of water; a tide gate. -- Flood mark, the mark or line to which
the tide, or
a flood, rises; high-water mark. -- Flood tide, the rising tide; -- opposed to ebb tide. -- The Flood, the deluge in the
days of Noah.
Hear it pronounced