Flood Meaning
/flʌd/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn overflow of a large amount of water (usually disastrous) from a lake or other body of water due to excessive rainfall or other input of water.
nounA large number or quantity of anything appearing more rapidly than can easily be dealt with.
Sentence Examples
The bridge was carried away by the flood.
The bridge was washed away by the flood.
The flood level is marked by a white line on the wall.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After days of heavy rain, the river overflowed its banks, causing a massive ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The heavy rainfall caused the river to ____, damaging many of the houses near the bank.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English flod, from Old English flōd, from Proto-West Germanic *flōdu, from Proto-Germanic *flōduz, from *plew- (“to flow”). Cognate with Scots flude, fluid, Saterland Frisian Floud, Dutch vloed, German Flut, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish flod, Icelandic flóð, and Gothic 𐍆𐌻𐍉𐌳𐌿𐍃 (flōdus).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"a covenant never to destroy the earth again by flood"
— 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations."
— 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge."
— 2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28:
"China's Ministry of Water Resources Saturday warned that floods are expected to hit the country and called on relevant departments to make preparation.
Heavy rains have hit parts of southern, eastern and central China since Wednesday, pushing water levels in some rivers well above warning lines, the ministry said.
China entered its flood season on Saturday, four days earlier than previous years, and the country may suffer from more and stronger rain as well as floods with more extreme weather forecast for the flood season, the ministry warned."
— 2020 March 29, “China enters flood season”, in China Internet Information Center:
"Deregulation of financial markets laid the groundwork for the subprime crisis in the United States, while a badly designed euro contributed to the debt crisis in Greece, and the Schengen system of open borders made it difficult to control the flood of refugees in Europe."
— 2016 December 6, Francis Fukuyama, “The Dangers of Disruption”, in The New York Times:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
After days of heavy rain, the river overflowed its banks, causing a massive ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The heavy rainfall caused the river to ____, damaging many of the houses near the bank.