INUNDATION

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land

Example:

plains fertilized by annual inundations

Synonyms:

alluvion; deluge; flood; inundation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("inundation" is a kind of...):

geological phenomenon (a natural phenomenon involving the structure or composition of the earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inundation"):

debacle (flooding caused by a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river during the spring or summer)

flash flood; flashflood (a sudden local flood of great volume and short duration)

Noachian deluge; Noah's flood; Noah and the Flood; the Flood ((Biblical) the great deluge that is said in the Book of Genesis to have occurred in the time of Noah; it was brought by God upon the earth because of the wickedness of human beings)

Derivation:

inundate (fill or cover completely, usually with water)

inundate (fill quickly beyond capacity; as with a liquid)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An overwhelming number or amount

Example:

a torrent of abuse

Synonyms:

deluge; flood; inundation; torrent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure