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.
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
I think there is not in the world so strange an overfall, nor so wonderful to behold.
From The Discovery of Guiana by Sir Walter Raleigh
At seven-thirty o'clock, he was again lost sight of in a heavy overfall, the current setting to the eastward at a place commonly known as La Ballesta.
From The Story of Paul Boyton Voyages on All the Great Rivers of the World by Paul Boyton
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
The DAM at the Croton River is 40 feet high, and the overfall 251 feet in length.
From Handbook of The New York Public Library by New York Public Library
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.
