flow (n.)

  1. the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases)

    [ Syn: flowing ]

  2. the amount of fluid that flows in a given time

    [ Syn: flow rate , rate of flow ]

  3. the act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression

    [ Syn: stream ]

  4. any uninterrupted stream or discharge

  5. something that resembles a flowing stream in moving continuously; a stream of people emptied from the terminal; the museum had planned carefully for the flow of visitors

    [ Syn: stream ]

  6. dominant course (suggestive of running water) of successive events or ideas; two streams of development run through American history; stream of consciousness; the flow of thought; the current of history

    [ Syn: stream , current ]

  7. the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause; the women were sickly and subject to excessive menstruation; a woman does not take the gout unless her menses be stopped--Hippocrates; the semen begins to appear in males and to be emitted at the same time of life that the catamenia begin to flow in females--Aristotle

    [ Syn: menstruation , menses , menstruum , catamenia , period ]

    flow (v.)

  1. move or progress freely as if in a stream; The crowd flowed out of the stadium

    [ Syn: flux ]

  2. move along, of liquids; Water flowed into the cave; the Missouri feeds into the Mississippi

    [ Syn: run , feed , course ]

  3. cause to flow; The artist flowed the washes on the paper'

  4. be abundantly present; The champagne flowed at the wedding'

  5. fall or flow in a certain way; This dress hangs well; Her long black hair flowed down her back

    [ Syn: hang , fall ]

  6. cover or swamp with water

  7. undergo menstruation; She started menstruating at the age of 11

    [ Syn: menstruate ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.