overflow
Americanverb (used without object)
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overflows,
present (3rd person singular)
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overflowed,
past participle, past
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overflown,
past participle
-
overflowing
present participle
-
to flow or run over, as rivers or water.
After the thaw, the river overflows and causes great damage.
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to have the contents flowing over or spilling, as an overfull container.
Stop pouring or your glass is going to overflow.
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to pass from one place or part to another as if flowing from an overfull space.
The population overflowed into the adjoining territory.
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to be filled or supplied with in great measure.
a heart overflowing with gratitude; a region overflowing with orchards and vineyards.
verb (used with object)
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overflows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overflowed,
past participle, past
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overflown,
past participle
-
overflowing
present participle
-
to flow over; flood; inundate.
The river overflowed several farms.
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to flow over or beyond (the brim, banks, borders, etc.).
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to cause to overflow.
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to flow over the edge or brim of (a receptacle, container, etc.).
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to fill to the point of running over.
noun
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overflows
plural
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an overflowing.
the annual overflow of the Nile.
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something that flows or runs over.
to carry off the overflow from a fountain.
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a portion crowded out of an overfilled place.
to house the overflow of the museum's collection in another building.
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an excess or superabundance.
an overflow of applicants for the job.
- Synonyms:
- glut, flood, plethora, surplus, overabundance
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an outlet or receptacle for excess liquid.
The tank is equipped with an overflow.
verb
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to flow or run over (a limit, brim, bank, etc)
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to fill or be filled beyond capacity so as to spill or run over
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to be filled with happiness, tears, etc
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(tr) to spread or cover over; flood or inundate
noun
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overflowing matter, esp liquid
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any outlet that enables surplus liquid to be discharged or drained off, esp one just below the top of a tank or cistern
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the amount by which a limit, capacity, etc, is exceeded
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computing a condition that occurs when numeric operations produce results too large to store in the memory space assigned to it
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overflowsimple
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overflowssimple
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have overflowedperfect
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have overflownperfect
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has overflowedperfect
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has overflownperfect
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am overflowingprogressive
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are overflowingprogressive
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is overflowingprogressive
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have been overflowingperfect progressive
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has been overflowingperfect progressive
Past
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overflowedsimple
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had overflowedperfect
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had overflownperfect
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was overflowingprogressive
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were overflowingprogressive
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had been overflowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overflow
before 900; Middle English overflowen, Old English oferflōwan. See over-, flow
Explanation
To overflow is to go beyond filling something with a liquid, so that it gushes over the edges. During heavy rainstorms, rivers sometimes overflow their banks and flood the surrounding land. Bathwater will overflow the tub if you don't turn the water off, and if you keep pouring coffee after your cup is full, it will also overflow. Literal overflowing involves liquid, but you can also use this verb to mean "fill a container" or "fill with feeling." So your arms can overflow with flowers, and your heart can overflow with happiness. The Old English root is oferfleow, "flood" or "inundate."
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.
See Examples For:
More than 50 people pack the gallery most days, with even more seated in an overflow room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
He looked at more than 350 storm overflow outlets in England and whether there had been heavy rain when they were spilling sewage.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Rescuers scoured flooded parts of China for survivors on Wednesday after storms killed 17 people and caused dozens of rivers to overflow and a reservoir dam to burst, with officials warning of more rain.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
To handle the extra volume, engineers send surplus water down 5 Shaft into the deep pool below, much like an overflow spillway helps relieve pressure at a full reservoir.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026
Actually, it doesn’t smell like human sewage; it smells of human sewage, because whenever it rains, the sewers overflow and the collective waste of Central Indiana dumps directly into the river.
From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green
A separate storm overflow map shows storm overflows in "near real time", with overflows remaining visible for 24 hours after they end.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Because I’m a stranger who people regularly turn to for financial help, my inbox typically overflows with general questions like the one above.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
The background jar stands alone, while the piece in the foreground overflows with a rainbow of plants, flowers, fruit, chamoy candies, gummies and a single real butterfly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
Retrofitting the warehouse for immigration detention would create construction sediment that would run into nearby waterways, Maryland’s lawsuit argued, and housing hundreds of people there would strain the water supply and create sewage overflows.
From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2026
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry
Roughly a year ago, a glacial lake in Tibet overflowed after a large amount of ice melted, hitting the same Nepal-China border area with deadly floods.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
She arrived at the courtroom nearly an hour and a half ahead of her 8:30 a.m. appointment, and watched as the waiting room overflowed with at least a hundred other immigrants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
"Rivers that are normally completely frozen have overflowed where they hadn't historically," he told the BBC, causing layered, unstable ice sheets that are hazardous to travel over in winter months.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026
Although recovery efforts were under way in parts of the city, some outlying areas remained at risk as a nearby river overflowed, forcing another 500 people to evacuate on Thursday morning.
From Barron's ● Jan. 8, 2026
The torrent overflowed the gutters, and a curtain of rainwater leaped off the roof.
From "Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution" by Ji-li Jiang
The victims died on Sunday and Monday in Minas Gerais state, where rivers have overflown, leaving towns partially submerged.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2022
Its military this month deployed tanks to the Tajik border with Afghanistan and has overflown the region with ground-attack jets, ostensibly on training exercises.
From New York Times ● Jul. 29, 2021
"That island was overflown by a plane catapulted from the USS Colorado a few days after she went missing. The pilot didn't see any recent activity."
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2019
According to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency, several Israeli bulldozers entered the southern Gaza Strip early on Thursday overflown by drones, which would fit with the timeframe described by the Israeli military.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 18, 2016
Four days after launching Sputnik into orbit, Radio Moscow announced the addition of one more city to its timetable of destinations that would be overflown by their satellite: Little Rock, Arkansas.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
An overflowing pool caused a hillside to partially collapse in the Hollywood Hills Friday, prompting evacuations, according to authorities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
But the real magic of contemporary Lisdoonvarna lies in the town's overflowing streets and pubs - as Timby soon found out.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Thanks to the boom in online fitness and beauty culture, our feeds are constantly overflowing with good-looking people who are just too boring to be hot.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
With mortuaries overflowing in Nepal, authorities have had to bury hundreds of unidentified bodies after DNA sampling.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
Erato tipped the potion into a pot and held the pot sideways over the fire, so the liquid flowed to its side, close to the lip but not overflowing.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
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.
