overflows 1 of 2

plural of overflow

overflows

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of overflow
1
as in spills
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2
3
as in bursts
to be copiously supplied a magazine that usually overflows with home-repair tips for the do-it-yourselfer

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of overflows
Noun
Minor tidal overflows, especially during the late morning high tides. — Ca Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 29 Sep. 2026 The governor’s office said the state was securing its harbors, deploying emergency personnel to strategic locations and monitoring dams for any possible breaches or overflows. — Dennis Romero, NBC news, 6 Sep. 2026 Weeks after overflows from Atlanta’s sewer tunnels contributed to the deaths of thousands of fish on the Chattahoochee River, the city’s Department of Watershed Management says its investigating another fish kill on a different river. — Drew Kann, AJC.com, 1 July 2026 As Connecticut’s climate changes, more frequent and intense storms have lead to more overflows. — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 25 June 2026 The contamination, according to the organization, is often caused by sewage overflows, waste from large-scale farming, and urban runoff. — Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 25 June 2026 Researchers believe periodic flooding and river overflows helped preserve the eggs by covering them in sediment millions of years ago. — Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 23 May 2026 As long as the 83/17 split remains in place, protecting local waterways from combined sewer overflows will continue to exacerbate the water affordability crisis in Detroit. — Nicole Van Lier, The Conversation, 13 May 2026 That can allow attackers to leverage serious vulnerabilities like buffer overflows and memory leaks to compromise devices. — Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 13 Apr. 2026
Verb
South Florida roads and overflows sewage systems The National Weather Service in Miami concurs. — Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 23 Sep. 2026 Nowadays, the Bemelmans Bar overflows with tourists fresh off the bus and twentysomethings who have pre-screened it on Instagram, and has lost its old, beautiful emptiness, but doubtless the same pull that drew us draws them. — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026 The history of oil overflows with examples of imperialistic overreach being confronted, eventually, by populist backlash, leftist governments, and asset seizures. — Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 1 Sep. 2026 Claudia Rankine’s new book overflows with grief for the backlash to racial progress, but history isn’t finished. — Charles Finch, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026 Choose Camps Bay Beach for a party scene along a promenade that overflows with shops and bars, or take a stroll to Clifton, a more secluded beach partitioned into four sections by giant rocks. — Paul Jebara, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 Aug. 2026 It's believed the debris washed ashore following recent heavy rainfall and sewer overflows, according to local reports citing the NJDEP. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 25 Aug. 2026 These overflows may send stormwater mixed with untreated or partially treated sewage into waterways. — Gabby Sartori, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026 But the film overflows with childlike wonder, a comic-strip dream of girls next door and nerdy weirdoes growing muscles with puberty. — Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overflows
Noun
  • During emergencies, those facilities are converted into places of refuge from fires, floods or other disasters.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
  • At 25 feet, County Highway 6 floods three miles east of Tonganoxie.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 1 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Using aggressive budget caps that force huge surpluses, the governor has used $11 billion since 2020 to shrink pension debt.
    — Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Fulton argued the proposition effectively would limit clinics from accumulating surpluses and reserves.
    — Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 17 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The bedroom spills open to a private courtyard with a hot tub.
    — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 30 Sep. 2026
  • But Catherine’s worries aren’t assuaged by a visit to Moira at the Park, and Lamb’s irritation with Diane spills over at the funeral in a startling public display.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 16 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • In 90 percent of instances, if a team overwhelms another in the trenches on both sides of the ball, that team wins the game handily.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Revenue that overwhelms delivery teams, adds friction for customers or depends on heroic effort is not the same as scalable growth.
    — Tim Dowd, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • In these moments, the actor bursts through his roles as the Spider does through Reilly, unleashing the Grand Guignol excess that is Nicolas Cage.
    — Harmon Siegel, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Things quickly take a terrifying turn during surgery when a scorpion tail suddenly bursts through Perry’s back, attacking one of the surgeons mid-operation.
    — Lily Brown, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026
Noun
  • Such terrain is already conducive to flash flooding, sudden torrents that can sweep down canyons and other low-lying areas with little warning.
    — Megan Janetsky, Chicago Tribune, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision unleashed unlimited torrents of money into political campaigns, elections are now largely financed by big money donors and super PACs.
    — Dr. Michael Good, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • But Coppola’s film, irrespective of its fatal flaws and excesses, at least meant something in the context of his career.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 29 Sep. 2026
  • In Lois Lowry’s dystopian novel The Giver, a world of human complexity has been flattened deliberately to remove the inconvenient excesses of emotion and feeling.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Elimar, the ground floor restaurant, buzzes at breakfast with a spectacular spread including giant wheels of parmesan and sides of prosciutto, fruit, egg and pancake stations, and a gluten-free section.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Sep. 2026
  • That means that when such a stellar body buzzes a black hole in a rpTDE, its outer layers are stripped, but its core resists the influence of the black hole.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 1 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Overflows.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overflows. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

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