Meanings
plural overflows
- countableuncountableThe spillage resultant from overflowing.
High crests of these overflows were: Manhattan, 23.0 feet, 8.0 above bankful, on June 16–17; Wamego, 20.8 feet, 4.8 feet above bankful, on June 17; Topeka, 26.8 feet, 5.8 feet above bankful, on June 17; […]
1943, Climatological Data, page 8 - countableuncountableAn outlet for escape of excess material.
- countableuncountableExcess, superabundance
GCN: Do you have an overflow of scripts? JG: I have more than we could ever do, certainly. But there's never an overflow of quality, and quality is really hard to come by, real quality.
1977 February 12, Don Shewey, John Glines, “Theatre Profiles Part II”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 33, page 8
present singular third person overflows · participle present overflowing · past overflowed · participle past overflowed · participle past proscribed sometimes overflown
- transitiveTo flow over the brim of (a container).
The river overflowed the levee into the road.
3 more examples
Theſe are they that went ouer Ioꝛden in the firſt moneth, when it had ouerflowen all his* bankes, and they put to flight all them of the valleis, both toward the Eaſt, and toward the Weſt.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Chronicles 12:15Locally heavy rains on the 21st caused more than 2 feet of overflow on Salt Creek at Ashland, Nebr., on the 22d. Some county roads were inundated. Mill Creek which flows into the Platte River at Louisville, Nebr., overflowed its banks from the heavy rain.
1965 January 1, “General Summary of River and Flood Conditions-Continued”, in Climatological Data: National Summary, volume 16, number 1, Asheville, NC: United States Weather Bureau, page 265The shadows had begun to overflow Their stagnant puddles on the nightward side, When presently the roar of battle died
2018, John G. Neihardt, A Cycle of the West, page 461Synonyms: overrun
- transitiveTo cover with a liquid, literally or figuratively.
The flash flood overflowed most of the parkland and some homes.
1 more example
So when they were working that evening at the pumps, there was on this head no small gamesomeness slily going on among them, as they stood with their feet continually overflowed by the rippling clear water […]
1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick - transitiveTo cause an overflow.
- intransitiveTo be subject to a load that exceeds limits or capacity.
The hospital ER was overflowing with flu cases.
- figurativelyintransitiveTo have something in superabundance; to abound in something.
I see and feel that I want the first requisite — a heart overflowing with Divine love towards sinners
1857, Eustace Rogers Conder, Josiah Conder: A Memoir
- ambitransitivecomputingTo (cause to) exceed the available numeric range.
Calculating 255+1 will overflow an eight-bit byte.
1 more example
Some programs, especially online games, tend to have coding problems that leave them with memory holes - in other words, they don't delete information from your PC's memory once they're finished with it, they just keep adding and adding until everything overflows. Eventually, this can cause the game to crash to desktop, but adding more memory can help prevent this.
2008, Adam Oxford, Windows Vista - Autumn 2008, Future US, →ISSN, page 67
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo flow over the brim of (a container).
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe occurrence of surplus liquid (as water) exceeding the limit or capacity
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishoferflōwan
- Middle Englishoverflowen
- Englishoverflow
From Middle English overflowen, from Old English oferflōwan, equivalent to over- + flow.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic فَيَضَان, فَاضَ
- فَيَضَان (fayaḍān)spillage
- فَاضَ (fāḍa)(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Catalan desbordar, vessar
- desbordar(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- vessar(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Chinese Mandarin 溢出, 漫溢
- 溢出 (yìchū)(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- 漫溢 (mànyì)(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Czech přetečení
- přetečenícomputing: situation where a value exceeds the available range
Esperanto elrandiĝi
- elrandiĝi(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Finnish ylivuoto, ylivuoto
- ylivuotospillage
- ylivuotocomputing: situation where a value exceeds the available range
- aiheuttaa ylivuotocomputing: to exceed the available numeric range
- ylittää rajoituscomputing: to exceed the available numeric range
- ylitäyttää(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
French débordement, déborder
- débordementspillage
- déborder(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
German Übergelaufene(s), Übergeflossene(s)
- Übergelaufene(s)spillage
- Übergeflossene(s)spillage
- Überlaufoutlet
- Uberschußexcess
- überfließen(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- überlaufen(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Greek υπερχείλιση, ξεχείλισμα
- υπερχείλιση (ypercheílisi)spillage
- ξεχείλισμα (xecheílisma)spillage
- υπερχείλιση (ypercheílisi)outlet
- υπερχείλιση (ypercheílisi)computing: situation where a value exceeds the available range
- ξεχειλίζω (xecheilízo)(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- υπερεκχειλίζω (yperekcheilízo)(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Hebrew גָּלַשׁ, עָלָה עַל גְּדוֹתָיו
- גָּלַשׁ (galásh)(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- עָלָה עַל גְּדוֹתָיו ('alá 'al gdotáv)(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Italian straripamento, eccesso
- straripamentospillage
- eccessospillage
- eccedenzaspillage
- sfogooutlet
- uscitaoutlet
- overflowcomputing: situation where a value exceeds the available range
- ridondarecomputing: to exceed the available numeric range
- traboccare(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- ridondare(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- sommergere(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Japanese 溢れる
- 溢れる (afureru)(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Latin alluviō, inundō
- alluviōspillage
- inundō(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- redundō(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- stāgnō(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- stāgnō(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- inundō(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Lithuanian perpildymas
- perpildymascomputing: situation where a value exceeds the available range
Malay limpahan, limpah atas
- limpahanspillage
- limpah atas(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Māori puhake, pūhakehake
- puhake(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- pūhakehake(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- pūrena(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- kōhure(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- ngāekieki(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- kōrengarenga(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- puha(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- ngāekieki(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- renga(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- ngawhā(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- engaenga(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- puhake(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Norwegian Bokmål renne over
- renne over(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Polish wylew, przelew
- wylewspillage
- przelewoutlet
- odpływoutlet
- nadmiarexcess
- przepełnieniecomputing: situation where a value exceeds the available range
- zalewać(transitive) to cover with a liquid
- zalać(transitive) to cover with a liquid
- przelewać(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- przelać(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- przepełniaćcomputing: to exceed the available numeric range
- przepełnićcomputing: to exceed the available numeric range
- przepełniać(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- przepełnić(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Portuguese transbordo, transbordamento
- transbordospillage
- transbordamentospillage
- ladrãooutlet
- overflowcomputing: situation where a value exceeds the available range
- transbordamentocomputing: situation where a value exceeds the available range
- transbordar(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Romanian revărsare, se revărsa
- revărsarespillage
- se revărsa(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
Russian переполне́ние, перели́в
- переполне́ние (perepolnénije)spillage
- перели́в (perelív)spillage
- избы́ток (izbýtok)spillage
- перелива́ться (perelivátʹsja)(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- перели́ться (perelítʹsja)(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- выходить за пределы (vyxoditʹ za predely)(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- течь через край (tečʹ čerez kraj)(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- переполня́ться (perepolnjátʹsja)computing: to exceed the available numeric range
- переполня́ть (perepolnjátʹ)computing: to exceed the available numeric range
- переполня́ть (perepolnjátʹ)(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- перелива́ться (perelivátʹsja)(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- переполня́ться (perepolnjátʹsja)(intransitive) to be subject to a load that exceeds limits or capacity
- перепо́лниться (perepólnitʹsja)(intransitive) to be subject to a load that exceeds limits or capacity
Scottish Gaelic cuir thairis
- cuir thairis(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Slovak pretečenie
- pretečeniecomputing: situation where a value exceeds the available range
Spanish desbordamiento, derrame
- desbordamientospillage
- derramespillage
- rebalsespillage
- rebosaduraspillage
- rebosamientospillage
- rebosespillage
- aliviaderooutlet
- escapeoutlet
- desbordarse(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- rebalsar(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- rebosar(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- desbordar(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- colmar(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- rebalsar(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- desbordar(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- bosar (disused)(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Tagalog pag-apaw, umapaw
- pag-apawspillage
- umapaw(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
- apawan(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Thai ท่วม, ล้น
- ท่วม (tûuam)(transitive) to cover with a liquid
- ล้น (lón)(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Turkish taşmak
- taşmak(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Ukrainian перелива́тися, перели́тися
- перелива́тися (perelyvátysja)(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- перели́тися (perelýtysja)(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- переповня́тися (perepovnjátysja)(intransitive) to be subject to a load that exceeds limits or capacity
- перепо́внитися (perepóvnytysja)(intransitive) to be subject to a load that exceeds limits or capacity
Vietnamese tràn ngập, tràn
- tràn ngập(transitive) to cover with a liquid
- tràn(intransitive) to flow over the brim of a container
- tràncomputing: to exceed the available numeric range
- tràn(transitive) to fill beyond the limits of
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with overflow
All rhymes →Cite this entry
overflow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overflow
“overflow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overflow. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overflow,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overflow.
Source: overflow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.