flooding

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
flood/flʌd/

▶noun

• 1 an overflow of a large amount of water over dry land.

  ■ (the Flood) the biblical flood brought by God upon the earth because of the wickedness of the human race.

  ■ literary a river, stream, or sea.

• 2 an outpouring of tears or emotion.

  ■ an overwhelming quantity of things or people appearing at once.

• 3 the inflow of the tide.

• 4 short for floodlight.

▶verb

• 1 cover or become covered with water in a flood.

  ■ (of a river) become swollen and overflow its banks.

• 2 arrive in or overwhelm with very large numbers.

  ■ fill or suffuse completely: she flooded the room with light.

• 3 overfill the carburettor of (an engine) with petrol.

• 4 (of a woman) experience a uterine haemorrhage.

– origin OE flōd, of Gmc origin; rel. to flow.