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flood out

B1 neutral separable both
In simple words

When water from a flood fills a place and forces people to leave, or when lots of something comes pouring out all at once.

Literal meaning: To flood (fill with water) so something/someone must go out — transparent.

Meanings

1 B1 neutral

To force people to leave their homes or a place because of severe flooding.

"Hundreds of families were flooded out of their homes after the river burst its banks."

Grammar: separable
2 B1 neutral

For a large volume of people, water, or things to pour out of a place rapidly.

"Spectators flooded out of the stadium as soon as the final whistle blew."

3 B2 idiomatic neutral

To overwhelm a system or person with a large volume of messages, calls, or data.

"The news story flooded out their email server within hours of publication."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

The 'displaced by flooding' sense is the most common and is heard frequently in news reports. The intransitive sense ('people flooded out') is also natural. Can also mean to overwhelm a system with incoming traffic or messages.

Commonly used with

residents homes families basement community calls

Forms

Base
flood out
I/you/we/they
3rd person
floods out
he/she/it
Past simple
flooded out
yesterday
Past participle
flooded out
have + pp
-ing form
flooding out
continuous

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