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.
It was most probable that an overfall existed somewhere, and doubtless through a cleft in the granite.
From The Mysterious Island by Verne, Jules
The swell was unaccountably high, and the seas were curling over each other and breaking all round us just as if we were in a tide-race or overfall.
From The Cruise of the 'Alerte' The narrative of a search for treasure on the desert island of Trinidad by Knight, E. F. (Edward Frederick)
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 Kerr, Robert
I think there is not in the world so strange an overfall, nor so wonderful to behold.
From The Discovery of Guiana by Raleigh, Walter, Sir
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 Dampier, William
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.
