flow
pronunciation
How to pronounce flow in British English:
UK [fləʊ]
How to pronounce flow in American English:
US [fləʊ]
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- Noun:
- the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases)
- the amount of fluid that flows in a given time
- the act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression
- any uninterrupted stream or discharge
- something that resembles a flowing stream in moving continuously
- dominant course (suggestive of running water) of successive events or ideas
- the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause
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- Verb:
- move or progress freely as if in a stream
- move along, of liquids
- cause to flow
- be abundantly present
- fall or flow in a certain way
- cover or swamp with water
- undergo menstruation
Word Origin
- flow
- flow: [OE] The prehistoric Indo-European *pleu-, ancestor of a heterogeneous range of English vocabulary, from fleet to plover, denoted ‘flow, float’. It had a variant form *plō-, which passed into Germanic as *flō-. This formed the basis of the Old English verb flōwan (whence modern English flow) and also of the noun flood.=> fleet, flood, fowl, plover, pluvial
- flow (v.)
- Old English flowan "to flow, stream, issue; become liquid, melt; abound, overflow" (class VII strong verb; past tense fleow, past participle flowen), from Proto-Germanic *flowan "to flow" (cognates: Middle Dutch vloyen, Dutch vloeien, vloeijen "to flow," Old Norse floa "to deluge," Old High German flouwen "to rinse, wash"), probably from PIE *pleu- "flow, float" (see pluvial). The weak form predominated from 14c., but strong past participle flown is occasionally attested through 18c. Related: Flowed; flowing.
- flow (n.)
- mid-15c., "action of flowing," from flow (v.). Meaning "amount that flows" is from 1807. Sense of "any strong, progressive movement comparable to the flow of a river" is from 1640s. Flow chart attested from 1920 (flow-sheet in same sense from 1912). To go with the flow is by 1977, apparently originally in skiing jargon. Go with the flow, enjoy the forces, let ankles, knees, hips and waist move subtly to soak up potential disturbances of acceleration and deceleration. ["Ski" magazine, November 1980]
Antonym
Example
- 1. Avoid negative cash flow at all cost .
- 2. Electric current is a flow of atomic particles called electrons .
- 3. As blood flow diminishes , vision fails peripherally first .
- 4. Your desired outcome helps to determine the flow of communication .
- 5. Then let it flow through you to bless others .