flood
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GC: n

S: http://www.ready.gov/floods (last access: 15 December 2013); http://eschooltoday.com/natural-disasters/floods/what-is-a-flood.html (last access: 25 August 2015).

N: 1. Old English flod “a flowing of water, flood, an overflowing of land by water, Noah’s Flood; mass of water, river, sea, wave,” from Proto-Germanic *floduz “flowing water, deluge” (cognates: Old Frisian flod, Old Norse floð, Middle Dutch vloet, Dutch vloed, German Flut, Gothic flodus), from PIE verbal stem *pleu- “flow, float” (see pluvial). Figurative use by mid-14c.
2. The overflowing by water of the normal confines of a stream or other body of water, or the accumulation of water by drainage over areas which are not normally submerged. 3. Controlled spreading of water over a particular region.
4. flood, high-water stage in which water overflows its natural or artificial banks onto normally dry land, such as a river inundating its floodplain. The effects of floods on human well-being range from unqualified blessings to catastrophes. The regular seasonal spring floods of the Nile River prior to construction of the Aswān High Dam, for example, were depended upon to provide moisture and soil enrichment for the fertile floodplains of its delta. The uncontrolled floods of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) and the Huang He in China, however, have repeatedly wrought disaster when these rivers habitually rechart their courses. Uncontrollable floods likely to cause considerable damage commonly result from excessive rainfall over brief periods of time, as, for example, the floods of Paris (1658 and 1910), of Warsaw (1861 and 1964), of Frankfurt am Main (1854 and 1930), and of Rome (1530 and 1557).
5. The overflowing by water of the normal confines of a stream or other body of water, or the accumulation of water by drainage over areas which are not normally submerged.
6. flood: The overflowing of a river or the temporary rise in the level of the sea or a lake which results in the innundation of dry land.
7. flooding: (1) Overflowing by water of the normal confines of a watercourse or other body of water. (2) Accumulation of drainage water over areas which are not normally submerged. (3) Controlled spreading of water for irrigation.
8. flood: The overflowing of water of the normal confines of a stream or other body of water, or the accumulation of water by drainage over areas, which are not normally submerged.
Excludes Tidal flooding in coastal zones will be reported as “Storm Surge”. (GLIDE).
9. Collocations: flood, large amount of water.

  • Adj. devastating, great, heavy, severe; summer, winter.
  • Verb + flood: cause.
  • Flood + verb: hit sth, strike sth This summer the region was struck by devastating floods. inundate sth The meadowland was inundated by heavy floods. cause sth The flood caused widespread destruction. subside The floods are slowly subsiding.
  • Flood + noun: water/waters; alert, damage, victim; control, defence, prevention, protection, relief.
  • Phrases: be in (full) flood The river was in full flood (= had flooded its banks).

S: 1. OED – http://goo.gl/wCFEaq (last access: 3 September 2014). 2 & 3. GDT (last access: 25 August 2015). 4. EncBrit – http://goo.gl/ScuVAX (last access: 25 August 2015). 5. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 25 August 2015). 6 & 7. METEOTERM/Standard Dictionary of Meteorological Sciences, by G-J. Proulx, Canada (last access: 15 December 2013). 8. GLOSS RW – http://goo.gl/0zjx8d (last access: 18 October 2015). 9. OD – http://goo.gl/cqUEKZ (ast access: 22 August 2016).

SYN: 1. flooding. 2. inundation.

S: 1. GDT (last access: 25 August 2015); METEOTERM (last access: 15 December 2013). 2. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 25 August 2015); METEOTERM (last access: 15 December 2013).

CR: erosion, eruption, natural disaster