overflow
/ˌoʊvɚˈfloʊ/ verb C2- To flow over the brim of (a container). · The river overflowed the levee into the road.
- To cover with a liquid, literally or figuratively. · The flash flood overflowed most of the parkland and some homes.
- To cause an overflow.
- To flow over the brim of a container. · The waters overflowed into the Ninth Ward.
- To be subject to a load that exceeds limits or capacity. · The hospital ER was overflowing with flu cases.
- To have something in superabundance; to abound in something.
- To (cause to) exceed the available numeric range. · Calculating 255+1 will overflow an eight-bit byte.
He/she/it overflows · Past overflowed · Past participle overflowed · -ing form overflowing
Verb forms
- Base form
- overflow
- He/she/it
- overflows
- Past
- overflowed
- Past participle
- overflowed
- -ing form
- overflowing
From the library
Anne’s cup of happiness was full, and Matthew caused it to overflow.
“Possibly nothing at all; the overflow of my brain would probably, in a state of freedom, have evaporated in a thousand follies; misfortune is needed to bring to light the treasures of the human intellect.
Of the lady’s sensations they remained a little in doubt; but that the gentleman was overflowing with admiration was evident enough.
“As for me, my heart is overflowing with happiness.”
Other matches
Learn overflow in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.