World Book 1997 4.0

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<HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>FLOOD</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"> <A HREF="a.dic">A</A> <A HREF="b.dic">B</A> <A HREF="c.dic">C</A> <A HREF="d.dic">D</A> <A HREF="e.dic">E</A> <A HREF="f.dic">F</A> <A HREF="g.dic">G</A> <A HREF="h.dic">H</A> <A HREF="i.dic">I</A> <A HREF="j.dic">J</A> <A HREF="k.dic">K</A> <A HREF="l.dic">L</A> <A HREF="m.dic">M</A> <A HREF="n.dic">N</A> <A HREF="o.dic">O</A> <A HREF="p.dic">P</A> <A HREF="q.dic">Q</A> <A HREF="r.dic">R</A> <A HREF="s.dic">S</A> <A HREF="t.dic">T</A> <A HREF="u.dic">U</A> <A HREF="v.dic">V</A> <A HREF="w.dic">W</A> <A HREF="x.dic">X</A> <A HREF="y.dic">Y</A> <A HREF="z.dic">Z</A> <A NAME="flood"> flood, noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD>noun 1. a great flow of water over what is usually dry land; inundation. Ex. The heavy rains caused a serious flood near the river. <DD> 2. a large amount of water, ocean, sea, lake, or river. Ex. She will to her peaceful woods return, and to her murmuring floods (Wordsworth). <DD> 3. (Figurative.) a great outpouring of anything. Ex. a flood of light, a flood of words. <DD> 4. a flowing of the tide toward the shore; rise of the tide. <DD>v.t. 1. to flow over; cover with a great flow of water. Ex. The river flooded our fields. (SYN) inundate. <DD> 2. to fill much fuller than usual. <DD> 3. to put much water on. Ex. A wave flooded the holes I had dug in the sand. <DD> 4. (Figurative.) to fill, cover, or overcome like a flood. Ex. The room was flooded with moonlight. The rich man was flooded with requests for money. (SYN) overwhelm, deluge. <DD> 5. to cause or allow too much fuel to flow into (the carburetor of a motor), so that the motor fails to start. Ex. He flooded the carburetor when he tried to start the car. <DD>v.i. 1. to pour out or stream like a flood. <DD> 2. (Figurative.) to flow like a flood; overflow. Ex. Sunlight flooded into the room. <DD> 3. to become covered or filled with water. Ex. During the thunderstorm, our cellar flooded. <DD> 4. to receive too much fuel into the carburetor. Ex. He tried to start the car, but he was nervous and the motor flooded (New Yorker). <DD> 5. (Medicine.) <DD> a. to suffer from uterine hemorrhage. <DD> b. to have an excessive menstrual flow. expr. the Flood, the waters that covered the earth in the time of Noah; the Deluge (in the Bible, Genesis 7). Ex. Your ancient but ignoble blood has crept through scoundrels ever since the Flood (Alexander Pope). adj. floodable. noun flooder. </DL> <A NAME="floodcontrol"> flood control,<DL COMPACT><DD> the practice of attempting to prevent or lessen damage caused by floods especially by the use of dams, levees, dikes, and extra outlets, or by reforestation. </DL> <A NAME="floodcurrent"> flood current,<DL COMPACT><DD> the movement of water toward the coast or inland due to the movement of the tide. </DL> <A NAME="floodgate"> floodgate, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. a gate in a canal, river, stream, or dam, to control the flow of water. <DD> 2. (Figurative.) a thing that controls the flow or passage of anything. Ex. More important, if the West yields to terrorism in one place, the floodgates are open (New York Times). </DL> <A NAME="floodlamp"> flood lamp, =floodlight (def. 1).</DL> <A NAME="floodlevel"> flood level,<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. the highest mark reached by a flood. <DD> 2. the level above which high water in a river is regarded as in flood, usually the level at which water overflows its natural banks. </DL> <A NAME="floodlight"> floodlight, noun, verb, -lighted or -lit, -lighting.<DL COMPACT><DD>noun 1. a lamp that gives a broad beam of light. Ex. Silhouetted by its own 98 floodlights,the Capitol is white and serene against the winter night sky (Newsweek). <DD> 2. a broad beam of light from such a lamp. Ex. We could see the whole yard in the floodlight. <DD>v.t. to light by a floodlight or floodlights. Ex. The baseball field was brightly floodlighted for the night game. </DL> <A NAME="floodplain"> flood plain,<DL COMPACT><DD> a plain bordering a river and made of soil deposited by floods. </DL> <A NAME="floodtide"> flood tide,<DL COMPACT><DD> the flowing of the tide toward the shore; rise of the tide. </DL> <A NAME="floodtime"> floodtime, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the period during which a river is in flood. </DL> <A NAME="floodwall"> floodwall, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a wall erected for protection against flooding waters. </DL> <A NAME="floodwater"> floodwater, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> water flooding dry land. Ex. Floodwaters began receding in some areas of Kentucky (Wall Street Journal). </DL> <A NAME="floodway"> floodway, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a natural or artificial pathway by which excess water drains off in floodtime. </DL> <A NAME="floodwood"> floodwood, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> pieces of wood brought down by a flood. </DL> <A NAME="flooey"> flooey, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) out of order; askew. Ex. Our combustion control just went flooey (New Yorker). </DL> <A NAME="floor"> floor, noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD>noun 1. the part of a room to walk or stand on; inside bottom covering of a room. Ex. The floor of this room is made of wood. <DD> 2. a flat surface at the bottom. Ex. They dropped their net to the floor of the ocean. <DD> 3a. a story of a building. Ex. Five families live on the fifth floor. <DD> b. the level supporting surface in other structures. Ex. the floor of a bridge or elevator. <DD> 4. any large level surface. Ex. a forest floor of pine needles and cones. (Figurative.) For Lycidas your sorrow is not dead, Sunk though he be beneath the watery floor (Milton). <DD> 5. the part of a room or hall where members of a lawmaking body, convention, or the like, sit, and from which they speak. <DD> 6. (Figurative.) the right to speak in a lawmaking body, convention, or the like. Ex. "You may have the floor," said the chairman. <DD> 7. the main part of an exchange, where buying and selling of stocks, bonds, or commodities, is done. <DD> 8. (Informal.) the lowest level (of prices or amounts). <DD> 9. (Mining.) an underlying stratum on which a seam of coal, or other mineral, lies. <DD> 10. (Nautical.) the part of the bottom of a ship that is almost level on each side of the keelson. <DD>v.t. 1. to put a floor in or on. Ex. The carpenter will floor this room with oak. <DD> 2. to knock down; shoot-down. Ex. He floored the boy with one blow. <DD> 3. (Informal, Figurative.) to beat or defeat. <DD> 4. (Informal, Figurative.) to confuse or puzzle completely. Ex. The last question on the examination was a problem that completely floored us. (SYN) nonplus, confound. <DD> 5. to press against the floorboard. Ex. To start the car, turn on the ignition, and floor the accelerator. <DD> 6. to place upon a floor; base. expr. cross the floor, to change political parties. Ex. Churchill crossed the floor of the House and became a Liberal (Atlantic). expr. wipe the floor with, to inflict a crushing defeat on. Ex. The Gaullists had won a resounding victory, wiping the floor with all their opponents (London Times). adj. floorless. </DL> <A NAME="floorage"> floorage, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. the amount of floor, usually measured in square feet, available in a building or part of a building; floor space. <DD> 2. =flooring (def. 2). </DL> <A NAME="floorboard"> floorboard, noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD>noun 1. one of the boards of a wooden floor. <DD> 2. Usually, floorboards. the floor of an automobile, especially of the driver's compartment. Ex. Then the green flag fell and 33 big feet pushed 33 throttles to the floorboards (Time). <DD>v.t. (Informal.) to push (the accelerator) down to the floorboard of an automobile. </DL> <A NAME="floorbroker"> floor broker,<DL COMPACT><DD> a member of a stock exchange who executes orders for other members. He does not deal directly with the public. </DL> <A NAME="floorcloth"> floorcloth, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. a cloth or other material for covering a floor, such as linoleum. <DD> 2. a cloth for washing or wiping floors. </DL> <A NAME="floorer"> floorer, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. a person who lays floors. <DD> 2. a person or thing that strikes someone or something to the floor. <DD> 3. (Informal, Figurative.) something that confuses, puzzles, or embarrasses one, as a decisive retort or a hard question. </DL> <A NAME="floorgirl"> floor girl,<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a girl or woman who does odd jobs in a store, workshop, etc. </DL> <A NAME="flooring"> flooring, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. a floor. <DD> 2. floors. <DD> 3. material for making or covering floors, such as wood, linoleum, or tile. </DL> <A NAME="floorlamp"> floor lamp,<DL COMPACT><DD> a tall lamp that stands on the floor. </DL> <A NAME="floorleader"> floor leader,<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) the member of a lawmaking body chosen to direct the members who belong to his political party. Ex. The floor leader has the responsibility of managing legislation on the floor of the Senate. </DL> <A NAME="floorlength"> floor-length, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> reaching down to the floor. Ex. floor-length draperies. </DL> <A NAME="floorman"> floor man,<DL COMPACT><DD> a representative of a brokerage house who operates on an exchange floor. </DL> <A NAME="floormanage"> floor-manage, transitive verb, -aged, -aging.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) to direct as a floor manager or floor leader. Ex. Within two years he was floor-managing major New Deal legislation (Harper's). </DL> <A NAME="floormanager"> floor manager,<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. the manager of a particular floor in a hotel or department store. Ex. [The] key would not open the door, so the porter got a passkey from the floor manager (Time). <DD> 2. (U.S.) <DD> a. the campaign manager for a political candidate at a nominating convention. <DD> b. =floor leader. </DL> <A NAME="floorplan"> floor plan,<DL COMPACT><DD> a diagram, drawn to scale, of a horizontal section of a room, or rooms, on the same level, showing the thickness of walls, the positions of openings, as doorways, and, often, other features. </DL> <A NAME="floorshow"> floor show,<DL COMPACT><DD> an entertainment consisting of music, singing, dancing, or comedy acts, presented at a night club, hotel, or club. </DL> <A HREF="floorspa.dic">NEXT</A>