1
as in flood
a great flow of water or of something that overwhelms
a great overflow of water from the heavy rains swept mud and silt down onto the highway
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in surplus
the state or an instance of going beyond what is usual, proper, or needed
an overflow of help actually made the job more complicated
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to flood
to flow over the brim or top of
while the wine steward stood there gawking at the nearby celebrity, my expensive champagne was overflowing its glass and pouring onto our table
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to engulf
to cover with a flood
the swollen river overflowed the surrounding land and washed several houses away
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of overflow
Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2025
Trosclair advises against using your bathroom for closet overflow or for storing out-of-season clothes that won’t be touched for months until the weather shifts.
—Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 2 Sep. 2025
Raquel Gomes, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
The storm sewers are literally overflowing!
—R29 Team, Refinery29, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for overflow
Noun
This would prevent combined sewer overflows, which is when sewage floods area stormwater lines and deposits into local waterbodies.
—Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2025
Trosclair advises against using your bathroom for closet overflow or for storing out-of-season clothes that won’t be touched for months until the weather shifts.
—Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 2 Sep. 2025
Verb
Everyone’s inboxes were overflowing, and stress levels were high.
—Raquel Gomes, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
The storm sewers are literally overflowing!
—R29 Team, Refinery29, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for overflow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overflow
Noun
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The text records royal decrees including tax relief during poor Nile floods; donations to temples; the creation of a new priestly office; a festival tied to the heliacal rising of Sirius; and a calendar reform introducing a leap day every four years.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Sep. 2025
-
Take the necessary actions to protect flood-prone property.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Abiy has said the dam will improve access to electricity for the almost half the population who had none as recently as 2022, and export the surplus to the region.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
9 Sep. 2025
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There is even a world in which Winnipeg’s best play is to forget about its surplus of veteran defencemen, giving Salomonsson third-pairing minutes as soon as this season.—
Murat Ates,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In March 2019, Clover Flat Land Fill spilled 40,000 gallons of leachate into nearby streams, which are tributaries of the Napa River, Haley said in a news release.—
Bay City News,
Mercury News,
13 Sep. 2025
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Not surprisingly, these patterns often spill over into their relationships.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
But as her due date grew closer, fighting in her neighborhood escalated, engulfing the entire village.—
Sarah Ferguson,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
-
The docuseries initially picked up steam after debuting at SXSW in 2024 and was engulfed by Starz.—
Michael Saponara,
Billboard,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Meanwhile, the Enchanted glittered with edible pink shimmer dust, and bursting with fruity, botanical flavors – Grey Goose with watermelon basil essences, vermouth and basil.—
John Metcalfe,
Mercury News,
12 Sep. 2025
-
The streaming bubble burst eight months before Willow’s premiere, so the move was part of a much larger cost-saving initiative.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
But then the torrent of anonymous text messages that would put their relationship to the test began flooding in.—
Liam Quinn,
PEOPLE,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Polish airspace was violated by at least 19 Russian drones overnight, the country's prime minister said, in a torrent of activity that triggered a response from the NATO country's air force, which scrambled and downed several of the drones.—
Will Gretsky,
ABC News,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In 1956, long before those flashy rhinestone jumpsuits, the infamous Jungle Room, and all the Vegas excess, Elvis was just a handsome, super-talented guy playing high schools and military bases along the Gulf coast.—
Josh Miller,
Southern Living,
14 Sep. 2025
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Panday plays a convincingly gruff tortured artist alongside Padda’s struggling ingenue, and most of the screen time is devoted to their pairing instead of introducing tertiary excess.—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Lincoln Oasis rest area on I-80/294 is often overfilled with demand for truck parking, and there’s a two-hour limit on spaces, Rozek said.—
Addison Wright,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Sep. 2025
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By law, the sewerage district can't overfill the Deep Tunnel, so by early Sunday morning, the district had to initiate a rare sanitary sewer overflow.—
Caitlin Looby,
jsonline.com,
22 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Overflow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overflow. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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