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overflow

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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From Middle English overflowen, from Old English oferflōwan, equivalent to over- +‎ flow.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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overflow (countable and uncountable, plural overflows)

  1. The spillage resultant from overflow; excess.
    • 1943, Climatological Data, page 8:
      High crests of these overflows were: Manhattan, 23.0 feet, 8.0 above bankful, on June 16–17; Wamego, 20.8 feet, 4.8 feet above bankful, on June 17; Topeka, 26.8 feet, 5.8 feet above bankful, on June 17; […]
  2. Outlet for escape of excess material.
  3. (computing) The situation where a value exceeds the available numeric range.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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overflow (third-person singular simple present overflows, present participle overflowing, simple past overflowed, past participle overflowed or (sometimes proscribed) overflown)

  1. (transitive) To flow over the brim of (a container).
    The river overflowed the levee.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Chronicles 12:15:
      Theſe are they that went ouer Ioꝛden in the firſt moneth, when it had ouerflowen all his* bankes, and they put to flight all them of the valleis, both toward the Eaſt, and toward the Weſt.
    • 1965 January 1, “General Summary of River and Flood Conditions-Continued”, in Climatological Data: National Summary‎[1], volume 16, number 1, Asheville, NC: United States Weather Bureau, page 265:
      Locally heavy rains on the 21st caused more than 2 feet of overflow on Salt Creek at Ashland, Nebr., on the 22d. Some county roads were inundated. Mill Creek which flows into the Platte River at Louisville, Nebr., overflowed its banks from the heavy rain.
  2. (transitive) To cover with a liquid, literally or figuratively.
    The flash flood overflowed most of the parkland and some homes.
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:
      So when they were working that evening at the pumps, there was on this head no small gamesomeness slily going on among them, as they stood with their feet continually overflowed by the rippling clear water […]
  3. (transitive) To cause an overflow. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  4. (intransitive) To flow over the edge of a container.
    • 2018, John G. Neihardt, A Cycle of the West, page 461:
      The shadows had begun to overflow Their stagnant puddles on the nightward side, When presently the roar of battle died
    The waters overflowed into the Ninth Ward.
  5. (intransitive) To exceed limits or capacity.
    The hospital ER was overflowing with flu cases.
    1. (computing, transitive, intransitive) To (cause to) exceed the available numeric range.
      Calculating 255+1 will overflow an eight-bit byte.
      • 2008, Adam Oxford, Windows Vista - Autumn 2008, Future US, →ISSN, page 67:
        Some programs, especially online games, tend to have coding problems that leave them with memory holes - in other words, they don't delete information from your PC's memory once they're finished with it, they just keep adding and adding until everything overflows. Eventually, this can cause the game to crash to desktop, but adding more memory can help prevent this.
  6. (intransitive) To be superabundant; to abound.
    • 1857, Eustace Rogers Conder, Josiah Conder: A Memoir:
      I see and feel that I want the first requisite — a heart overflowing with Divine love towards sinners

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Portuguese

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English overflow.

Noun

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overflow m (plural overflows)

  1. (computing) overflow (situation where a value exceeds the available range)
    Synonym: transbordamento
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