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Webster 1913 Edition

Flow

Flow

(flō)
,
obs.
imp.
s
ing.
of
Fly
,
Verb.
I.
Chaucer.

Flow

(flō)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Flowed
(flōd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Flowing
.]
[AS.
flōwan
; akin to D.
vloeijen
, OHG.
flawen
to wash, Icel.
flōa
to deluge, Gr.
πλώειν
to float, sail, and prob. ultimately to E.
float
,
fleet
. √80. Cf.
Flood
.]
1.
To move with a continual change of place among the particles or parts, as a fluid; to change place or circulate, as a liquid;
as, rivers
flow
from springs and lakes; tears
flow
from the eyes.
2.
To become liquid; to melt.
The mountains
flowed
down at thy presence.
Is. lxiv. 3.
3.
To proceed; to issue forth;
as, wealth
flows
from industry and economy
.
Those thousand decencies that daily
flow

From all her words and actions.
Milton.
4.
To glide along smoothly, without harshness or asperties;
as, a
flowing
period;
flowing
numbers
; to sound smoothly to the ear; to be uttered easily.
Virgil is sweet and
flowing
in his hexameters.
Dryden.
5.
To have or be in abundance; to abound; to full, so as to run or flow over; to be copious.
In that day . . . the hills shall
flow
with milk.
Joel iii. 18.
The exhilaration of a night that needed not the influence of the
flowing
bowl.
Prof. Wilson.
6.
To hang loose and waving;
as, a
flowing
mantle;
flowing
locks.
The imperial purple
flowing
in his train.
A. Hamilton.
7.
To rise, as the tide; – opposed to ebb;
as, the tide
flows
twice in twenty-four hours
.
The river hath thrice
flowed
, no ebb between.
Shakespeare
8.
To discharge blood in excess from the uterus.

Flow

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To cover with water or other liquid; to overflow; to inundate; to flood.
2.
To cover with varnish.

Flow

,
Noun.
1.
A stream of water or other fluid; a current;
as, a
flow
of water; a
flow
of blood.
2.
A continuous movement of something abundant;
as, a
flow
of words
.
3.
Any gentle, gradual movement or procedure of thought, diction, music, or the like, resembling the quiet, steady movement of a river; a stream.
The feast of reason and the
flow
of soul.
Pope.
4.
The tidal setting in of the water from the ocean to the shore. See
Ebb and flow
, under
Ebb
.
5.
A low-lying piece of watery land; – called also
flow moss
and
flow bog
.
[Scot.]
Jamieson.

Webster 1828 Edition

Flow

FLOW

,
Verb.
I.
[L. fluo, contracted from fugo, for it forms fluri, fuctum. In one case, the word would agree with the root of blow, L. flo; in the other, with the root of fly.]
1.
To move along an inclined plane, or on descending ground, by the operation of gravity, and with a continual change of place among the particles or parts, as a fluid. A solid body descends or moves in mass, as a ball or a wheel; but in the flowing of liquid substances, and others consisting of very fine particles, there is a constant change of the relative position of some parts of the substance, as in the case with a stream of water, of quicksilver, and of sand. Particles at the bottom and sides of the stream, being somewhat checked by friction, move slower than those in the middle and near the surface of the current. Rivers flow from springs and lakes; tears flow from the eyes.
2.
To melt; to become liquid.
That the mountains might flow down at they presence.
Is. 64.
3.
To proceed; to issue. Evils flow from different sources. Wealth flows from industry and economy. All our blessings flow from divine bounty
4.
To abound; to have in abundance.
In that day the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk. Joel 3.
5.
To be full; to be copious; as flowing cups or goblets.
6.
To glide along smoothly, without harshness or asperity; as a flowing period; flowing numbers.
7.
To be smooth, as composition or utterance. The orator has a flowing tongue.
Virgil is sweet and flowing in his hexameters.
8.
To hang loose and waving; as a flowing mantle; flowing locks.
The imperial purple flowing in his train.
9.
To rise, as the tide; opposed to ebb. The tide flows twice in twenty four hours.
10.
To move in the arteries and veins of the body; to circulate, as blood.
11.
To issue, as rays or beams of light.
Light flows from the sun.
12.
To move in a stream, as air.

FLOW

,
Verb.
T.
To cover with water; to overflow; to inundate. The low grounds along the river are annually flowed.

Definition 2024

flow

flow

English

Noun

flow ‎(countable and uncountable, plural flows)

  1. A movement in people or things with a particular way in large numbers or amounts
  2. The movement of a real or figurative fluid.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda.
  3. (mathematics) A formalization of the idea of the motion of particles in a fluid, as a group action of the real numbers on a set.
    The notion of flow is basic to the study of ordinary differential equations.
  4. The rising movement of the tide.
  5. Smoothness or continuity.
    The room was small, but it had good symmetry and flow.‎
  6. The amount of a fluid that moves or the rate of fluid movement.
    Turn on the valve and make sure you have sufficient flow.‎
  7. (psychology) A mental state characterized by concentration, focus and enjoyment of a given task.
  8. The emission of blood during menstruation.
    Tampons can be small or large, slender or thick. From “slender” to “super”, you can pick the size that matches your flow.‎
  9. (rap music slang) The ability to skilfully rap along to a beat.
    The production on his new mixtape is mediocre but his flow is on point.‎

Antonyms

  • (movement of the tide): ebb

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

External links

Verb

flow ‎(third-person singular simple present flows, present participle flowing, simple past and past participle flowed)

  1. (intransitive) To move as a fluid from one position to another.
    Rivers flow from springs and lakes.
    Tears flow from the eyes.
  2. (intransitive) To proceed; to issue forth.
    Wealth flows from industry and economy.
    • Milton
      Those thousand decencies that daily flow / From all her words and actions.
  3. (intransitive) To move or match smoothly, gracefully, or continuously.
    The writing is grammatically correct, but it just doesn't flow.
    • Dryden
      Virgil is sweet and flowing in his hexameters.
  4. (intransitive) To have or be in abundance; to abound, so as to run or flow over.
    • Bible, Joel iii. 18
      In that day […] the hills shall flow with milk.
    • Prof. Wilson
      the exhilaration of a night that needed not the influence of the flowing bowl
  5. (intransitive) To hang loosely and wave.
    a flowing mantle; flowing locks
    • A. Hamilton
      the imperial purple flowing in his train
  6. (intransitive) To rise, as the tide; opposed to ebb.
    The tide flows twice in twenty-four hours.
    • Shakespeare
      The river hath thrice flowed, no ebb between.
  7. (transitive, computing) To arrange (text in a wordprocessor, etc.) so that it wraps neatly into a designated space; to reflow.
  8. (transitive) To cover with water or other liquid; to overflow; to inundate; to flood.
  9. (transitive) To cover with varnish.
  10. (intransitive) To discharge excessive blood from the uterus.

Translations

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English flowen, from Old English flōwan ‎(“to flow”), from Proto-Germanic *flōaną ‎(“to flow”), from Proto-Indo-European *plōw-, lengthened o-grade form of *plew- ‎(“to fly, flow, run”).

Pronunciation

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