释义 |
▪ I. flood, n.|flʌd| Forms: 1 flód, 2–6 flod(e, 3 flodd, fludd, 3–4 south. vlod(e, 4–6 floode, flude, (5 flowede, flowyd, fluyd, floth), 5–7 flud, 6 flodde, floud(d)e, fludde, 6–7 floud, Sc. fluid, 4– flood. [Com. Teut.: OE. flód str. masc. and neut. = OFris. and OS. flôd masc., fem. and neut. (MDu. vloet, Du. vloed) = OHG. fluot fem. (MHG. vluot masc. and fem., Ger. flut fem.), ON. flôð neut., Goth. flôdus fem.:—OTeut. *flôðu(z:—pre-Teut. plōtús, f. Aryan verbal stem *plō, whence flow v. The primary sense, in accordance with the original function of the suffix -tu, is ‘action of flowing’, though the concrete uses are found in all Teut. langs. For the abnormal development of the vowel in mod.Eng. cf. blood.] 1. The flowing in of the tide. Often in phrases, ebb and flood, † tide of flood; also, young flood, quarter flood, half flood, full flood, top of flood.
a1000, etc. [see ebb n. 1]. O.E. Chron. an. 1031 Whenne þæt flod byþ ealra hehst & ealra fullost. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 177 For swiche flode, and for swich ebbinge þe prophete nemmeð þis woreld se. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 20 Heo..wende uorþ with god wynd & wel dryuyng flode. c1350Will. Palerne 2745 At þe fulle flod þei ferden to sayle. c1425Wyntoun Cron. ix. iii. 47 For Swlway was at þare passyng All Eb, þat þai fand þan on Flud. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xcii. 114 They cast anker and abode the fludde. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. x. 47 Flood is when the water beginneth to rise, which is young flood as we call it, then quarter flood, halfe flood, full Sea, still water, or high water. 1769E. Bancroft Nat. Hist. Guiana 323 The fish enter with the tide of flood. 1801R. Donnelly in Naval Chron. VI. 161 The young flood making close in shore. 1858Merc. Marine Mag. V. 175 The flood runs 3 hours. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., Top of flood or high-water. fig.c1430Lydg. Min. Poems 77 Ebbe after floode of al prosperite. 1559Ferrers Mirr. Mag., Dk. Glocester xi, Whan Fortunes flud ran with full streame. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 219 There is a Tide in the affayres of men, Which taken at the Flood, leades on to Fortune. 1647R. Stapylton Juvenal Pref., The empire..was at the highest flood of humane prosperity. 1710Palmer Proverbs 143 It seldom happens, but that a flood of words have an ebb of sense. a1862Buckle Civiliz. (1873) III. iii. 178 The flood of material prosperity had fairly set in. 2. A body of flowing water; a river, stream, usually, a large river. Obs. exc. poet. † against the flood: against the stream.
c825Vesp. Psalter lxxix [lxxx]. 12 Ðu aðenedes..oð flod [Vulg. flumen] setene his. c1000ælfric Gen. ii. 10 Þæt flod eode of stowe þære winsumnisse. c1200Ormin 10612 O ȝonnd hallf flod wass Sannt Johan Bapptisste forr to fullhtnenn. a1300Cursor M. 5624 (Cott.) Þe kings doghter plaiand yod And sagh þe vessel on þe flodd. a1470Tiptoft Cæsar xii. (1530) 15 A flod called the Thames. c1485Digby Myst. v. 491, I wyll no more row a-geyn the fflode. 1562Turner Baths 3 b, The bathes of Baden..are betwene the famous flode the Rene and the black or martian wood. 1605Sparke Brotherly Persw. (1607) 59 The water of the flood Iordan. 1735Somerville Chase iv. 407 Ev'ry..hollow Rock, that o'er the dimpling Flood Nods pendant. 1814Wordsw. Wh. Doe of Ryl. ii. 225 She will to her peaceful woods Return, and to her murmuring floods. transf. and fig.c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 111 He dranc of deðes flode. 1340Ayenb. 247 Drinke of the ulode of þine zuetnesse. 3. In wider sense: Water as opposed to land, often contrasted with field and fire. Also pl.: cf. waters. Now poet. or rhetorical.
a1000Cædmon's Gen. 204 (Gr.) Cynn, þa þe flod wecceð..inc hyrað eall. c1200Ormin 14816 Swa þatt te king wiþþ all hiss ferd Wass drunncnedd unnderr flodess. a1300Cursor M. 13323 (Cott.) ‘Petre’ he said, ‘þou has ben god Fissar hiddir-til on flod’. c1325Metr. Hom. 135 Schip fletes on the flode. c1450Golagros & Gaw. 302 The roy..socht to the ciete of Criste, our the salt flude. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 5 Through flood, through fire, I do wander euerie where. a1668Davenant Distresses Wks. (1673) 55 Those..cold and slippery Creatures that Possess the restless Flood. 1788Cowper Morning Dream 25 Thus swiftly dividing the flood, To a slave-cultured island we came. 1812J. Wilson Isle of Palms i. 42 My spirit..Looks down on the far-off Flood. 1857G. Lawrence Guy Liv. iv, The accidents of flood and field were discussed. [After Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 135.] fig.a1711Ken Edmund Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 167 The Floods of Joy celestial gently roll, Wave after Wave. 4. a. An overflowing or irruption of a great body of water over land not usually submerged; an inundation, a deluge. in flood, † on a flood: (of a river, etc.) overflowing its banks; (of land) in an inundated condition.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. vii. 25 Þa com þær ren, & mycele flod. 1125O.E. Chron. an. 1125 On ðes ilces ᵹeares wearð swa micel flod..þæt feola tunes & men weorðan adrencte. a1300Cursor M. 1042 (Cott.) Þis paradis es sett sua hei, Þat moght neuer flod ani þar nei. c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 591 Campsall MS. (640) Syn it ron, and al was on a flode. 1496in Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. I. 283 For bering of the Kingis treis that the flude hed away. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 512 By sudden Floods, and fall of Waters, Buckinghams Armie is dispers'd. 1673Ray Journ. Low C. 8 Great Rivers, which..in times of Floods brought down with them abundance of Earth. 1781Cowper Charity 282 Shipwreck..fire, and flood, Are mighty mischiefs. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xi. 78 On one occasion, when the floods were out, he exposed his life to imminent risk. 1874Froude in S. Afric. Notes 13–19 Dec., The rivers in the colony are reported to be in flood. transf. and fig.a1225Ancr. R. 74 Of a drope waxeð a muche flod..þet adrenceð þe soule. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 149 Alas! my hart is alle on flood. 1611Shakes. Cymb. i. vi. 74 With his eyes in flood with laughter. 1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 339 His passions all in flood And masters of his motion. 1883Macfadyen in Congregational Year-bk. 39 Floods of unbelief and carelessness have overspread the land. b. the flood: the great deluge recorded in the book of Genesis as occurring in the time of Noah; hence often Noah's flood; also, the great flood, general flood or universal flood.
Beowulf 1689 (Gr.) Flod ofsloh..giganta cyn. c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke xvii. 27 Flod com and ealle forspilde. c1175Lamb. Hom. 93 Hit itimode efter noes flode. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiv. iv. (1495) 470 Therin [Ararat] Noes shyppe restyd after the flood. c1450tr. De Imitatione iii. xxxvi, Euery flesshe had corrupte his wey, and þer fore folowed þe gret flode. 1533Elyot Cast. Helthe (1539) 32 b, The vniuersall deluge or floudde. 1571Campion Hist. Irel. vii. (1633) 22 Three hundred yeares after the generall Floud. 1734Pope Ess. Man iv. 212 If your ancient but ignoble blood Has crept through scoundrels ever since the flood. a1839Praed Poems (1864) I. 199 You would have sworn..He had fished in the flood with Ham and Shem! c. Deucalion's flood: a great deluge said, in Greek mythology, to have occurred in Thessaly.
1653Walton Angler i. 12 Some say, it [Angling] is as ancient as Deucalions Floud. 5. a. A profuse and violent outpouring of water; a swollen stream, a torrent; a violent downpour of rain, threatening an inundation.
c1205Lay. 3894 From heouene her com a sulcuð flod, Þre dæȝes hit rinde blod. 1531Elyot Gov. ii. xii. (1883) 138 A lande flode runnynge downe of a mountayne after a storme. 1611Bible Rev. xii. 15 The serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood. 1879Froude Cæsar xxii. 369 The melting of the snows in the mountains brought a flood down the Segre. 1880W. Cornw. Gloss. s.v., It's raining a flood. b. transf. in various uses: Applied e.g. to a profuse burst of tears, a copious outpouring of flame or light, a torrent of lava, an overwhelming concourse or influx of persons.
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxii. (Arb.) 263, I haue heard of the flouds of teares. 1607Shakes. Timon i. i. 42 You see this confluence, this great flood of visitors. 1711Pope Temp. Fame 478 Tow'rs and temples sink in floods of fire. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxxvi, Miss Bolo..went straight home, in a flood of tears, and a sedan chair. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. ii. 12 Floods of golden light were poured down the sides of the mountain. c. fig. in various applications.
1340Ayenb. 247 Huanne god ssel do come ope his urendes ane ulod of pays. c1450Mirour Saluacioun 4856 What flodes thurgh thyn hert ran of trewest sorow and wepyng. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxii. (Arb.) 263, I haue heard of..the flouds of eloquence, or of any thing that may resemble the nature of a water-course. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 215 Let me not stirre you vp To such a sodaine Flood of Mutiny. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xviii. 327 The flood of joy in my breast. 1877Mrs. Oliphant Makers Flor. x. 241 A preacher who..poured forth what was in him in floods of fiery words. 1894Gibbs Colloq. Currency 73 How do we know that there will be a flood of silver rather than of gold? †6. pl. = flooding 2.
1666G. Harvey Morb. Angl. xxxii. (1672) 97 Others that have the good fortune of..being delivered, escape by means of their Floods. 1755in Johnson; and in mod. Dicts. 7. Usu. in pl., colloq. abbrev. of flood-lamp, -light.
1930Punch 19 Feb. 198/2 Spool is the dramatic society's honorary electrician. His conversation was full of floods, floats, spots, battens, and dimmers. 1933P. Godfrey Back-Stage i. 14 The up-stage O.P. flood isn't properly masked. 1967Punch 16 Aug. 242/3 For Figaro and Verdi's Macbeth at the first [Edinburgh] festival twenty-one years ago, John Christie had to bring in a lighting bridge and sixty floods and perches from Glyndebourne. 8. attrib. and Comb. (sense 1), as flood-stream, flood-wave; (sense 2), as † flood crab, † flood gravel; (sense 3), as flood-bickerer; (sense 4), as flood-bank, flood control, flood-dam, flood-discharge, flood-sluice, flood-water; (sense 4 b), as flood-tradition. Also flood-beat, flood-compelling, flood-like adjs.
1928Manch. Guardian Weekly 31 Aug. 178/3 The building of *floodbanks, or levees, along the river banks. 1945Finito! Po Valley Campaign 23 A battalion fought its way to the near floodbank.
a1593Marlowe Ovid's Eleg. ii. xvii, *Flood-beat Cythera.
1599Nashe Lenten Stuffe 32 A..hoast of vnfatigable *flud bickerers and foame-curbers.
1735Thomson Liberty v. 473 The *flood-compelling Arch.
1943J. S. Huxley TVA iii. 22 Power as a by-product of *flood control. 1957G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. i. 116 The whole system has recently been modified by flood-control works.
c1420Pallad. on Husb. i. 862 *Floode crabbes here & ther to crucifie He seth, is goode.
1879Lumberman's Gaz. 11 June 5 They plan to build a *flood-dam.
1878Macm. Mag. Jan. 245/1 The *flood discharge of the Polar River.
c1420Pallad. on Husb. i. 368 *Floode gravel is goode for coveryng.
1855Clarke Dict., *Flood-like.
1791W. Jessop Rep. Riv. Witham 14 *Flood-sluices.
1858Merc. Marine Mag. V. 366 The *flood stream..sets E. by N.
1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. xi. 324 The *flood-traditions of remote regions of the world.
1791W. Jessop Rep. Riv. Witham 11 Regulate the passage of *Flood waters. 1893G. D. Leslie Lett. to Marco xxii. 144 The gulls..settled on the meadow by the flood-water.
1892E. Reeves Homeward Bound 157 Driving the water against both banks like a *flood wave. 9. Special comb., as flood-anchor, ‘that which the ship rides by during the flood-tide’ (Adm. Smyth); flood-arch, an arch of a bridge under which the water flows in time of flood; flood-boards, boards fitted together so as to keep out a flood; flood-bridge, a bridge for use in flood-time; flood-drift, sticks, etc. brought down by a flood; flood-flanking (see quot.); flood-lamp = flood-light; flood-land, land covered by water in time of flood; flood-light, a light providing a beam of intense illumination; the illumination so provided; also attrib. and fig.; hence as v. trans., to illuminate by means of flood-lights; flood-lighting vbl. n., the action of illuminating with flood-lights; also, flood-lights collectively; so flood-lit ppl. a.; flood-loam = alluvium; flood-mark, the high-water mark; flood-plain (see quot.); flood-way, (a) a piece of flooded road or path; (b) a channel constructed for the purpose of taking the flood-waters of a river; flood-wheel, a water wheel; † flood-womb, the river bed; flood-wood, pieces of wood brought down by a flood; also transf. and fig. Also flood-gate, flood-tide.
1844Dict. Trade s.v. Anchor, The *flood anchor.
1891A. J. Foster Ouse 135 The bridge..with its long line of *flood arches crossing the meadows.
1869Blackmore Lorna D. i, His place it is to stand at the gate, attending to the *flood-boards grooved into one another.
1741N. Riding Rec. VIII. 237 The repairs of the *flood-bridge.
1869Blackmore Lorna D. viii, I lay down..with..some *flood-drift combing over me.
1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 886/2 *Flood-flanking (Hydraulic Engin.), a mode of embanking with stiff moist clay.
1916Amer. Year Bk. 563 The line of demarcation between search-lamps and so-called ‘*flood lamps’ is a narrow one. 1933P. Godfrey Back-Stage iv. 43 Lighting towers..each capable of carrying a dozen 1000-watt flood lamps to supplement the battens overhead in lighting the scene. 1957Economist 21 Sept. 912/2 The officious display of security, the floodlamps and police dogs that surrounded the campaign train might have been better avoided.
a1881Rossetti Spring, The drained *flood-lands flaunt their marigold.
1924J. F. Hobart Tulley's Handbk. (ed. 7) III. 814 Another means of illumination is by *floodlights which are mounted at a distance from the space to be lighted. 1925A. E. Newton Greatest Bk. in World 82 From either side of the proscenium arch two flood-lights played upon the actors. 1925Cady & Dates Illum. Engin. 410 The light may be projected from flood-light projectors. 1928Daily Tel. 29 May 10/5 From thirty flood-light projectors the Royal Pavilion was bathed in amber, red, and green. 1930Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. 29 Mar. 7/1 It would be useless to turn a ‘flood-light’ on to any article which cannot stand this searching test. 1930Flood light [see approach n. 13].
1923M. Luckiesh Light & Color 256 Tall or isolated buildings are particularly attractive when *flood-lighted. 1928C. F. S. Gamble N. Sea Air Station ix. 131 By flood-lighting the sky with flares placed on the tops of balloons.
1917Electr. News 26, 48 A Resumé of *Flood-lighting. 1923J. W. T. Walsh Elem. Princ. Lighting 188 The illumination of open spaces..may often be carried out satisfactorily by a floodlighting equipment. 1927M. Borden Flamingo ii. ii, It was, of course, most beautiful at night against the dark, when Peter's flood-lighting streamed over it to make it translucent as ice. 1955Times 2 June 3/4 In view of the need to conserve fuel in the emergency, the Ministry of Works have discontinued the floodlighting of public buildings in London.
1928Daily Express 6 Aug. 15/1 Its walls, brilliantly *flood-lit,..are made almost entirely of sheets of glass. 1934H. Nicolson Curzon: Last Phase 40 The flood-lit self-righteousness, the timid imprecisions, the appalling amateurishness of democratic diplomacy. 1958W. T. O'Dea Social Hist. Lighting vii. 175 The floodlit office building or factory is an advertisement.
1880J. Geikie Preh. Europe 22 The ancient löss or *flood-loam of the Meuse.
1622Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 167 Things found vpon the Seas, or within the *flood-mark. 1808Scott Marm. ii. ix, The tide did now its flood-mark gain.
1873J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xxx. 656 West of the ‘Buckskin’ was a singular *flood plain some six miles wide. 1882Geikie Text-Bk. Geol. iii. ii. xi. §3. 383 The level tracts or flood-plain over which a river spreads in flood. 1957G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. i. 104 The local rise in the water table intensified solution and so produced in the flood plain very striking karstic forms. 1971Nat. Geogr. Sept. 407 These are but puddles compared to the deluges that once ripped across the lower Missouri's flood-plain.
1889F. E. Gretton Memory's Hardback 108 Near Tewkesbury and Upton there was a nasty bit of *flood-way. 1915E. Pound Cathay 25 The heart turns to travel so that he then thinks On flood-ways to be far departing. 1928Manch. Guardian Weekly 31 Aug. 178/3 The construction of a ‘floodway’ leaving the main stream [of the Mississippi] at Bird Point, near Cairo.
1515in Rogers Agric & Prices (1866) III. 564/1, 1 pr. *flode wheels 7/.
1382Wyclif Isa. xix. 7 Nakened shal be the *flod wombe, and the ryueres fro ther welle.
1839Marryat Diary Amer. Ser. i. I. 229 The major part of the men were what they call here *flood-wood, that is, of all sizes and heights. 1869Blackmore Lorna D. x, Between two bars, where a fog was of rushes, and flood-wood. ▪ II. flood, v.|flʌd| [f. prec. n. Cf. earlier flede.] 1. a. trans. To cover with a flood; to inundate.
1663Wood Life (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) I. 479 The streets in Oxon were all flouded with water. 1748Relat. Earthq. Lima 2 It floods the Out-Skirts of the Town. 1841Elphinstone Hist. Ind. II. 451 The rainy season set in; the whole plain was flooded. transf. and fig.1841L. Hunt Seer (1864) 1 The sunshine floods the sky and ocean. 1855Stanley Mem. Canterb. iii. (1857) 120 Flooding the hedgeless plains..the army..rolled along. 1882J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 484 The bookstalls were flooded with Puritan pamphlets. 1894Gibbs Colloq. Currency 72 We shall be flooded with silver and all gold will go out of circulation. 1936Discovery Oct. 320/2 Foreign pins still continued to flood the English market. 1944Ann. Reg. 1943 265 The presence of large armies..flooded the country with money. 1951E. Paul Springtime in Paris iv. 75 Where shall I be when rationing ends, and beef begins flooding the market? †b. To duck (a person) in the river. rare.
14..Symmie & his Bruther xi. in Laing E.P.P. (1822) All þe laddes cryd with a lairrum To flud him & to flyr him. 2. To cover or fill with water; to irrigate (grass land); to deluge (a burning house, mine, etc.) with water. Also of rain, etc.: To fill (a river) to overflowing.
1831Loudon Encycl. Agric. §2207 Flooding and warping are modes of irrigation, the former for manuring grass lands. 1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. I. 364 On the arena of the circus or amphitheatre temporarily flooded. 1855Bain Senses & Int. iii. iii. §14 A violent storm has flooded the rivers. 1883Manch. Exam. 24 Oct. 4/6 It was decided yesterday..to flood the..Colliery. 3. a. To pour (away, back, out) in a flood. In quots. fig. rare.
1829Fonblanque England under Seven Administr. (1837) I. 232 He floods away his sorrows in private. 1862Merivale Rom. Emp. (1871) V. xl. 60 The lifeblood of the provinces is flooded back upon Paris. 1888W. D. Lighthall Yng. Seigneur 28 The merry girl left me to flood out her spirits on a friend. b. To drive out by floods.
1910Westm. Gaz. 21 June 8/3 The flooded-out attendants. 4. intr. a. Of rain: To fall in ‘torrents’, rare. b. To come in ‘floods’ or great quantities; also with in. lit. and fig. c. Of a river: To overflow.
1755L. Evans Mid. Brit. Colonies 30 If it floods early, it scarce retires within its Banks in a Month. 1813Byron Giaour xi, Though raves the gust, and floods the rain. 1829I. Taylor Enthus. x. 268 Discourses, and reports, and tracts, that are..flooding from the religious press. a1861Clough Misc. Poems, Say not the Struggle 12 Far back, through creeks and inlets making, Comes silent, flooding in, the main. 1886J. K. Jerome Idle Thoughts 18 Thoughts..flood in upon us. d. To become flooded.
1908Daily Report 24 Aug. 9/1 A carburettor which persistently floods is not uncommon. 1912Motor Man. 13 A persistant tendency to flood..due to a punctured float. 5. To suffer from uterine hæmorrhage.
1770Hewson in Phil. Trans. LX. 404 To give women, who are flooding, considerable quantities of port wine. Hence ˈflooding ppl. a. Also ˈflooder.
1627–61Feltham Resolves i. liii. 95 They..pour a plenty on the general world..Surely, we nickname this same floodding man, when we call him by the name of Brave. 1833Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound Poems (1850) I. 179 By the flow Of flooding Nile. 1871Daily News 30 June, They flooded the constituency with money..and the result was that the honourable flooder was sent to what is called another place. 1891Galabin Midwifery (ed. 2) 731 Certain women have a constitutional proclivity to flooding..and have been described as ‘flooders’. |