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.
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
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 Smiles, Samuel
It was most probable that an overfall existed somewhere, and doubtless through a cleft in the granite.
From The Mysterious Island by Verne, Jules
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 Boyton, Paul
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
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.
