deluge
Americannoun
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a great flood of water; inundation; flood.
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a drenching rain; downpour.
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anything that overwhelms like a flood.
a deluge of mail.
- Synonyms:
- catastrophe, cataclysm
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the Deluge. flood.
noun
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a great flood of water
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torrential rain; downpour
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an overwhelming rush or number
a deluge of requests
verb
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to flood, as with water; soak, swamp, or drown
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to overwhelm or overrun; inundate
noun
Related Words
See flood.
Other Word Forms
- undeluged adjective
Etymology
Origin of deluge
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin dīluvium “flood,” equivalent to dīluv-, base of dīluere “to wash away, dissolve” ( dī- di 2 + -luere, combining form of lavere “to wash”) + -ium -ium
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The decision arrives not a moment too soon for the online encyclopedia, which has seen a deluge of hallucination-prone A.I.-written articles since ChatGPT’s launch.
From Slate • Apr. 1, 2026
Before the deluge of Scottish tries there was another examination of Scotland's resolve.
From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026
More than 5,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since a deluge late Monday caused landslides that buried dozens of people and unleashed flooding in the cities of Juiz de Fora and Uba.
From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026
The ultimate authority on how to handle the deluge of media inquiries was Mayor Karen Bass, according to an internal email reviewed by The Times.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2026
She saw with quiet impotence how the deluge was pitilessly exterminating a fortune that at one time was considered the largest and most solid in Macondo, and of which nothing remained but pestilence.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
