*flood*

n. [ OE. flod a flowing, stream, flood, AS. flōd; akin to D. vloed, OS. flōd, OHG. fluot, G. flut, Icel. flōð, Sw. & Dan. flod, Goth. flōdus; from the root of E. flow. √80. See Flow, v. i. ] 1. A great flow of water; a body of moving water; the flowing stream, as of a river; especially, a body of water, rising, swelling, and overflowing land not usually thus covered; a deluge; a freshet; an inundation. [ 1913 Webster ]

A covenant never to destroy
The earth again by flood. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The flowing in of the tide; the semidiurnal swell or rise of water in the ocean; -- opposed to ebb; as, young flood; high flood. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A great flow or stream of any fluid substance; as, a flood of light; a flood of lava; hence, a great quantity widely diffused; an overflowing; a superabundance; as, a flood of bank notes; a flood of paper currency. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Menstrual disharge; menses. Harvey. [ 1913 Webster ]

Flood anchor (Naut.) , the anchor by which a ship is held while the tide is rising. --
Flood fence, a fence so secured that it will not be swept away by a flood. --
Flood gate, a gate for shutting out, admitting, or releasing, a body of water; a tide gate. --
Flood mark, the mark or line to which the tide, or a flood, rises; high-water mark. --
Flood tide, the rising tide; -- opposed to ebb tide. --
The Flood, the deluge in the days of Noah. [ 1913 Webster ]