overflow
noun/ˈəʊvəfləʊ/
/ˈəʊvərfləʊ/
- [uncountable, singular] a number of people or things that do not fit into the space available
- A new office block was built to accommodate the overflow of staff.
- an overflow car park
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- [uncountable, singular] the action of liquid flowing out of a container, etc. that is already full; the liquid that flows out
- an overflow of water from the lake
- (figurative) an overflow of powerful emotions
- (also overflow pipe)[countable] a pipe that allows extra liquid to flow away safely when a container is full
- [countable, usually singular] (computing) a fault that happens because a number or data item is too large for the computer to represent it exactlyTopics Computersc2
Word OriginOld English oferflōwan (see over-, flow).
Check pronunciation:
overflow