- 1 [countable, uncountable] a large amount of water covering an area that is usually dry The heavy rain has caused floods in many parts of the country. flood damage Police have issued flood warnings for Nevada. an appeal to help flood victims the Thames flood barrier The river is in flood (= has more water in it than normal and has caused a flood). see also flash flood Wordfinderdisasteravalanche, cyclone, disaster, earthquake, eruption, flood, hurricane, landslide, tornado, tsunami Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivecatastrophic, devastating, great, … verb + floodcause flood + verbcome, hit something, strike something, … flood + nounwater, plain, damage, … phrasesbe in (full) flood See full entry See related entries: Rain large number
- 2 [countable] flood (of something) a very large number of things or people that appear at the same time a flood of complaints a flood of refugees The child was in floods of tears (= crying a lot). Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivegreat, constant, sudden, … flood + verbinundate somebody/something verb + floodbring, cause, release, … prepositionflood of phrasesa flood of memories, in floods of tears See full entry in Bible
- 3the Flood [singular] the great flood that covered the world in the Bible story before the Flood (= a very long time ago) Word OriginOld English flōd, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vloed and German Flut, also to flow.Extra examples No one knew that the flood was coming. She was inundated by floods of fan mail. The fields were inundated by heavy floods. The flood caused widespread destruction. The floods are slowly subsiding. The little girl was in floods of tears. The river was in full flood. This summer the region was struck by devastating floods. Writing about St. John’s brings back a flood of nostalgic memories. a great flood of refugees A great flood of anger washed through him. Authorities are struggling to cope with the flood of refugees. Conversation returned, a trickle breaking into a flood. The building was evacuated as flood water filled the basement. The insurance does not cover flood damage to gates, hedges or fences. They took on temporary workers in anticipation of a flood of calls.
water
Check pronunciation: flood
