overfall
Britishnoun
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a turbulent stretch of water caused by marine currents over an underwater ridge
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a mechanism that allows excess water to escape from a dam or lock
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the point at which a sewer or land drainage discharges into the sea or a river
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.
With the wind blowing violently, the current driving fast to the westward and a high sea increasing every moment, Paul was lost sight of for nearly forty minutes, in an unusually heavy overfall.
From The Story of Paul Boyton Voyages on All the Great Rivers of the World by Paul Boyton
It was most probable that an overfall existed somewhere, and doubtless through a cleft in the granite.
From The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
A little above it, was an ancient overfall weir, which had also contributed to scour away the foundations of the piers.
From The Life of Thomas Telford; civil engineer with an introductory history of roads and travelling in Great Britain by Samuel Smiles
About a coss lower down is an overfall where the water is not above three feet deep, but a mile in breadth, by which camels usually pass.
From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 08 by Robert Kerr
In the afternoon we met with a rippling tide or current, or the water of some shoal or overfall; but were past it before we could sound.
From A Voyage to New Holland by William Dampier
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.
