- present participle of flow.
flowing
Americanadjective
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moving in or as in a stream.
flowing water.
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proceeding smoothly or easily; facile.
flowing language.
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long, smooth, graceful, and without sudden interruption or change of direction.
flowing lines; flowing gestures.
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hanging loosely at full length.
flowing hair.
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abounding; having in excess.
a land flowing with milk and honey.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of flowing
before 950; Middle English flowynge, Old English flōwende. See flow, -ing 2
Explanation
Anything flowing moves like liquid, such as the flowing water of a river or someone’s long, flowing hair. Even a conversation can be flowing if people have a lot to say to each other. The adjective flowing is useful for describing things that drape gracefully, like Rapunzel's flowing hair or Cinderella's flowing gown. The sleek and streamlined movements of a ballet dancer might also be called flowing, and so can particularly graceful writing: "The poet's flowing lines beautifully evoked a summer afternoon." Flowing comes from flow, from a root meaning "to stream, melt, or become liquid."
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.
Lava tubes form when the outer surface of flowing lava cools and hardens while molten rock continues moving beneath it.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
When that happens, stocks will start flowing into children’s accounts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
The team was good and the money was flowing.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
The volume of oil flowing from the Middle East region has almost returned to pre-war levels, data shows, despite the continued restrictions Iran is placing on vessels attempting to travel through the Strait of Hormuz.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
He didn’t know how it was possible, but he could feel time flowing past him, scrolling backward.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
