overflow
[verb oh-ver-floh; noun oh-ver-floh]
- to flow or run over, as rivers or water: After the thaw, the river overflows and causes great damage.
- to have the contents flowing over or spilling, as an overfull container: Stop pouring or your glass is going to overflow.
- to pass from one place or part to another as if flowing from an overfull space: The population overflowed into the adjoining territory.
- to be filled or supplied with in great measure: a heart overflowing with gratitude; a region overflowing with orchards and vineyards.
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- to flow over; flood; inundate: The river overflowed several farms.
- to flow over or beyond (the brim, banks, borders, etc.).
- to cause to overflow.
- to flow over the edge or brim of (a receptacle, container, etc.).
- to fill to the point of running over.
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- an overflowing: the annual overflow of the Nile.
- something that flows or runs over: to carry off the overflow from a fountain.
- a portion crowded out of an overfilled place: to house the overflow of the museum's collection in another building.
- an excess or superabundance: an overflow of applicants for the job.
- an outlet or receptacle for excess liquid: The tank is equipped with an overflow.
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Origin of overflow
Synonyms
See more synonyms for overflow on Thesaurus.com13. overabundance, surplus, plethora, flood, glut.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for overflow
Contemporary Examples
Pope Francis urged the local parish to open up a closed monastery on the island to house the overflow.
“Barack Obama believes America is in need of great change,” Santorum said to the overflow crowd of 2,500.
The overflow crowds were thinning out—and he was becoming less of a novelty.
An hour to the north, at the rural Tilton School, Mitt Romney faced his own overflow crowd beneath quietly humming ceiling fans.
Mitt Romney Soars, Rick Santorum Struggles as They Battle in the New Hampshire PrimaryHoward Kurtz
January 7, 2012
An overflow room was required so that late-comers could watch the putative frontrunner on a large-screen television.
Historical Examples
Whenever he was fresh and full of spirits, he had enough to overflow upon her and every one.
MalboneThomas Wentworth Higginson
There was also an outlet to the street to carry off the overflow.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, MycenaeJennie Hall
He was ladling the pobs into the child's mouth, and scooping the overflow from her chin.
The ManxmanHall Caine
Further, on this day year, the city will overflow once more with wealth and beauty.
CyropaediaXenophon
He was feeding himself ferociously and seemed to overflow with bitterness.
FalkJoseph Conrad
overflow
- to flow or run over (a limit, brim, bank, etc)
- to fill or be filled beyond capacity so as to spill or run over
- (intr usually foll by with) to be filled with happiness, tears, etc
- (tr) to spread or cover over; flood or inundate
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- overflowing matter, esp liquid
- any outlet that enables surplus liquid to be discharged or drained off, esp one just below the top of a tank or cistern
- the amount by which a limit, capacity, etc, is exceeded
- computing a condition that occurs when numeric operations produce results too large to store in the memory space assigned to it
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for overflow
n.
1580s, "act of overflowing," from overflow (v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper