overfloodv.
/ˌəʊvəˈflʌd/, U.S. /ˌoʊvərˈfləd/ transitive. To pour over (a place) in a flood; to inundate; to overflow. Also (occasionally) intransitive. Frequently figurative and in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > flood or flooding > flood or overflow [verb (transitive)]
overruneOE
overflowOE
surround1444
overfleeta1460
infounder1505
overfloat1601
inund1628
deluge1649
inound1657
flood1663
to set on float1692
overflood?1784
inundate1791
float1794
freshet1865
the world > matter > liquid > liquid flow > action or process of flowing > flow [verb (transitive)] > over
overflowOE
overwaltc1400
overwash?1440
overflood?1784
overspill1888
the world > space > extension in space > spreading or diffusion > [verb (transitive)] > spread over or through (something)
overgangOE
overflowOE
spread?c1335
overspreada1400
overflood1882
?1784 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1938) VI. 143 While Winton of late was o'er flooded with joy At the sight of a pretty fac'd Irish boy.
1821 Ld. Byron Sardanapalus v. i. 149 The Euphrates..O'erfloods its banks.
1882 H. S. Holland Logic & Life (1885) 306 An answer which over-floods our senses with its fulness and compass.
1890 T. W. Allies Peter's Rock 341 The Arabians, overflooding Gaul after the conquest of Spain.
1949 A. B. Kuhn Shadow of Third Cent. xvi. 354 The mind of Western humanity was laid open to the sweep of..emotional excess that can overflood it.
1972 Internat. Jrnl. Middle East Stud. 3 129 Canals dried up in the Ḥilla region while over-flooding near Hindiya.
1992 Lloyd's List (Nexis) 29 Dec. 10 The fast processing of words and the ease of desktop pubishing could easily overflood the market with monographs and mini-books.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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v.?1784