From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishoverflowo‧ver‧flow1 /ˌəʊvəˈfləʊ $ ˌoʊvərˈfloʊ/ verb [intransitive, transitive] 1 FULLif a river, lake, or container overflows, it is so full that the liquid or material inside flows over its edges The drains flooded and water overflowed down the main street. The river had overflowed its banks.overflow with waste bins overflowing with plastic cups2 to have a lot of somethingoverflow with The garden overflows with colour. He was overflowing with good ideas.3 FULLif a place overflows with people or people overflow into a place, there are too many of them to fit into itoverflow with Hospitals were reported to be overflowing with dead and wounded.overflow into The house was full and people were overflowing into the street.4 STRONG FEELING OR BELIEFto have a very strong feelingoverflow with My heart was overflowing with gratitude.5 → be filled to overflowing (with something)→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
overflow• Within minutes of checking in to my room, the toilet overflowed.• Turn off the water so the sink doesn't overflow.• The hospitals are full to overflowing...• Reservoirs overflowed, and saturated levees continued to break in the San Joaquin Valley.• It is called a synonym, and will overflow from its natural home address because that is already full.• If we drill a borehole into the aquifer the groundwater will be under sufficient pressure to overflow from the borehole.• Shoal Creek overflowed its banks Friday.• The ashtray in front of him overflowed on to the counter.• Cream overflowed the edges of the shallow dish, another little twist of frightening confusion.• There were over 30 reporters, overflowing their allotted space in the courtroomoverflow with• The trash can overflowed with beer bottles.• The hospitals are overflowing with victims of the hurricane.overflowo‧ver‧flow2 /ˈəʊvəfləʊ $ ˈoʊvərfloʊ/ noun 1 [singular]FULL the amount of something or the number of people that cannot be contained in a place because it is already full The overflow will be accommodated in another hotel.overflow of the overflow of water from the lake2 [countable]TBDH a pipe through which water flows out of a container when it becomes too fullExamples from the Corpus
overflow• Riverside General had been built as an overflow hospital for Tewkesbury and Gloucester and surrounding areas.• Instead, home records are located using the bucket index and overflow records via the home bucket and a tag.• McDonnell and Montgomery found that higher overflow percentages than 10-25 percent led to increased retrieval times for all block sizes.• A temporary parking lot will be provided to handle the overflow.• Forman took his seat in front of the overflow crowd of 300 expecting, and certainly prepared for, a going over.• Within the last year, two new restaurants dedicated to the early morning meal have opened to accommodate some of the overflow.overflow of• an overflow of students 