overflow

«overflow» in Mova's school dictionary: to flow over the edge because something is too full, like… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (overflow, overflows, overflowed, overflowing); noun (an overflow, overflows)

meaning for a pupil

1) To overflow means to flow over the edge because something is too full, like a bath. tree →

2) A place overflows when there are too many people or things to fit. tree →

3) An overflow is the water or things that spill over, or a pipe or hole that lets extra water out. tree →

4) Overflowing with a feeling means having a lot of it, like overflowing with joy. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday safety, never leave a running bath or sink, because it can overflow and flood the floor; most baths and sinks have an overflow hole. In science, overflow links to capacity and volume: a jug can only hold so much. In maths word problems, overflow means the amount above the capacity: if a 2-litre jug gets 3 litres, 1 litre overflows. Rivers overflow their banks in floods. In computing, overflow means a number too big to store.

examples

• Turn the tap off before the bath overflows! tree →
• The river overflowed after days of heavy rain. tree →
• The bin was overflowing with rubbish. tree →
• The hall was so full the crowd overflowed into the corridor. tree →
• Water went down the overflow pipe. tree →
• If you pour 3 litres into a 2-litre jug, 1 litre will overflow. tree →
• Her heart was overflowing with happiness. tree →
• The car park was full, so we parked in the overflow car park. tree →
• Again the theatre was filled to overflowing, and again the Clown gave his imitation amidst the cheers of the crowd. tree →

note

Past: «overflowed» (not «overflown», which is the past participle of «overfly», to fly over). For numbers: overflow amount = amount poured minus capacity (if it is more than 0). Stress: verb o-ver-FLOW, noun O-ver-flow.

In the corpora

• Dishwasher detergent is made not to foam, so washing-up liquid must never go in a dishwasher: the foam would overflow.
• If the toilet is blocked, stop flushing, because flushing again makes it overflow.
• Leo let the bath overflow while he played a game, mopped it with towels and hid them.
• A bath left running can overflow and damage floors and the ceiling below.
• The sea does not overflow because as much water evaporates from it as rivers pour in.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «overflow» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.