flood

A large amount of water that covers land which is normally dry.

• The flood damaged our house.
• Heavy rain caused floods across the region.
• Families left the village after a flood warning.

Similar words: inundation

Opposites: drought

Common phrases: severe flood, flood damage, flood warning, river flood

A very large number of things arriving quickly, often too many to deal with.

• We received a flood of emails.
• A flood of visitors arrived after lunch.
• The office struggled with the sudden flood of applications.

How to use it: a flood of something (The announcement brought a flood of questions.)

Similar words: deluge, torrent

Opposites: trickle

Common phrases: flood of complaints, flood of messages, a sudden flood

To cover a place with water, or become covered with water.

• The river flooded our garden.
• Our basement floods whenever it rains heavily.
• The storm flooded several streets last night.

Similar words: inundate, submerge

Common phrases: flood the streets, flood a house, flood the basement

To overflow or flow into a place in large amounts, especially after heavy rain.

• The river began to flood.
• Rainwater flooded into the kitchen.
• After the storm, water flooded over the riverbanks.

How to use it: flood into something (Water flooded into the cellar.); flood over something (The river flooded over its banks.)

Similar words: overflow

Common phrases: river starts to flood, flood into something, flood over something

To fill a place or overwhelm someone with a very large number of things.

• Advertisements flood my inbox.
• Cheap products have flooded the market.
• Fans flooded the website with messages of support.

How to use it: flood something with something (Cheap imports flooded the market with low-priced toys.)

Similar words: overwhelm, inundate, swamp

Common phrases: flood the market, flood with something, flood someone’s inbox, flood someone with something