flow
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A continuous movement of many people or a non-solid substance
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
flohIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfloʊ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Movement in people or things characterized with a continuous motion, involving either a non solid mass or a multitude.
The movement of a real or figurative fluid.
mathematics
A formalization of the idea of the motion of particles in a fluid, as a group action of the real numbers on a set.
The rising movement of the tide.
Smoothness or continuity.
A flow pipe, carrying liquid away from a boiler or other central plant.
verb
intransitive
To move as a fluid from one position to another.
intransitive
To move or match smoothly, gracefully, or continuously.
intransitive
To rise, as the tide; opposed to ebb.
Cover or swamp with water
transitive
To cover with water or other liquid; to overflow; to inundate; to flood.
transitive
To cover with varnish.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Movement in people or things characterized with a continuous motion, involving either a non solid mass or a multitude.
Used this way, flow is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use flow
- “The crowd flowed out of the stadium.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases).
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A diagram of the sequence of operations in a computer program or an accounting system.
Flow off or away gradually.
A diagram of the sequence of operations in a computer program or an accounting system.
A diagram of the sequence of operations in a computer program or an accounting system.
Be the result of.
The flow of air.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.