OVERFLOW (overflown)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: overflown   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does overflow mean? 

• OVERFLOW (noun)
  The noun OVERFLOW has 2 senses:

1. a large flow

2. the occurrence of surplus liquid (as water) exceeding the limit or capacity

  Familiarity information: OVERFLOW used as a noun is rare.

• OVERFLOW (verb)
  The verb OVERFLOW has 2 senses:

1. flow or run over (a limit or brim)

2. overflow with a certain feeling

  Familiarity information: OVERFLOW used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OVERFLOW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A large flow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

flood; outpouring; overflow

Hypernyms ("overflow" is a kind of...):

flow; stream (the act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "overflow"):

effusion (flow under pressure)

Derivation:

overflow (flow or run over (a limit or brim))

Sense 2

Meaning:

The occurrence of surplus liquid (as water) exceeding the limit or capacity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

overflow; overspill; runoff

Hypernyms ("overflow" is a kind of...):

flow; flowing (the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases))

Derivation:

overflow (flow or run over (a limit or brim))

• OVERFLOW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they overflow    ... he / she / it overflows   
Past simple: overflowed   
Past participle: overflowed   
-ing form: overflowing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Flow or run over (a limit or brim)

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

brim over; overflow; overrun; run over; well over

Hypernyms (to "overflow" is one way to...):

run out; spill (flow, run or fall out and become lost)

"Overflow" entails doing...:

course; feed; flow; run (move along, of liquids)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "overflow"):

geyser (to overflow like a geyser)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

overflow (a large flow)

overflow (the occurrence of surplus liquid (as water) exceeding the limit or capacity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Overflow with a certain feeling

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

bubble over; overflow; spill over

Context example:

My boss was bubbling over with anger

Hypernyms (to "overflow" is one way to...):

boil; seethe (be in an agitated emotional state)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

His soul overflowed with ardent affections, and his friendship was of that devoted and wondrous nature that the worldly-minded teach us to look for only in the imagination.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Her heart was overflowing with tenderness.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

She in the overflowing spirits of her recovery, repeats it all to her nurse; and the nurse knowing my acquaintance with you, very naturally brings it all to me.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Of the lady's sensations they remained a little in doubt; but that the gentleman was overflowing with admiration was evident enough.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The carter was forced at last to leave his cart behind him, and to go home overflowing with rage and vexation.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

"Several lake basins filled and overflowed, indicating there was a considerable amount of water on the landscape during this time."

(Some Ancient Mars Lakes Came Long After Others, NASA)

The phones will ring, email will overflow, and texts will keep on coming.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Also, there were horns, and dolls, and toys of various sorts, and parcels and bundles of candies and nuts that filled the arms of all the Silvas to overflowing.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Never mind what happened just after that, for the full hearts overflowed, washing away the bitterness of the past and leaving only the sweetness of the present.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Earth system scientists from the University of California, Irvine have identified another culprit when a river overflows its banks: leafy plants.

(Plant physiology will be major contributor to future river flooding, National Science Foundation)