What does flood mean?
A flood is an overflow of water onto land that is normally dry, typically caused by heavy rainfall, melting snow, storm surges, or rivers bursting their banks. The word also carries a rich figurative life: a flood can be an overwhelming rush of almost anything — a flood of refugees, a flood of emails, a flood of memories, or a flood of tears. In this sense it conveys abundance to the point of being unmanageable. Flood appears in established expressions such as flash flood, in full flood, and floodgate, and as a verb it describes both physical inundation and metaphorical swamping, as in "the inbox was flooded with replies." Derived forms include flooding, flooded, floodplain, and floodlight. Rooted in Old English and related to the idea of flowing water, flood is an essential word for weather, disaster reporting, and vivid figurative language alike.
An overflow of water onto land that is normally dry, or figuratively, an overwhelming influx of people, things, or emotion.
"The village was cut off by the flood for nearly a week."
Often modified by adjectives indicating cause or speed: flash flood, coastal flood, severe flood.
To cover or submerge an area with water, or figuratively, to overwhelm someone or something with a large quantity of something.
"Applications flooded in after the scholarship was announced."
Both transitive uses are standard: a river floods fields, and grief can flood a person.
The plural is standard when referring to multiple flood events or widespread flooding across regions.
"Severe floods displaced thousands of residents across the region."
The words "flood" and "blood" share the same ancient root meaning "to flow" — one through water, the other through veins.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of flood
Flood comes from the Old English flōd, meaning a flowing of water or a tidal flow, which traces back to the Proto-Germanic *flōduz, from the same ancient root (*plew-, meaning "to flow") that gave us fluid, fluent, and influence via Latin. Its original sense emphasized flowing water generally before narrowing toward overflowing water in modern usage. German Flut is a direct cognate from the same Germanic source.
Related word forms
How flood is actually used
As a verb, flood takes both literal objects (a river floods a valley) and figurative ones (memories flooded back; companies were flooded with orders). The figurative use is extremely common and neutral in register, appearing equally in journalism and everyday speech.
Easily confused with flood
"Flooded" means covered with water, while "flowed" is the past tense of the verb "flow," meaning moved smoothly and continuously.