▪ I. flow, n.1
(fləʊ)
[f. flow v.]
1. a. The action or fact of flowing; movement in a current or stream; an instance or mode of this. Orig. said of liquids, but extended in modern use to all fluids, as air, electricity, etc. † Phrase: to set (the eyes) at flow: to (cause to) weep. Also ‘The course or direction of running waters’ (Admiral Smyth).
| a 1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 43 Thei xul not drede the flodys fflowe. 1607 Shakes. Timon ii. ii. 172 I haue..set mine eyes at flow. 1613 ― Hen. VIII i. i. 152 This top proud fellow, Whom from the flow of gall I name not. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam xii. xxxvii. 5 In the flow Of sudden tears. 1856 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 290 A gentle sound..like the flow of a brook. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. xxv. 362 The gentle flow of a current of air. 1885 Watson & Burbury Math. Th. Electr. & Magn. I. 208 A flow of positive electricity in the one direction along the wire. |
b. Physics.
line of flow in
Hydrodynamics, an imaginary curve so drawn within a liquid at any instant that at each point of the curve the instantaneous velocity of the liquid is along the tangent. In general a line of flow is not the path of a particle, but varies with the time. But when the motion is steady,
i.e. not a function of the time, the lines of flow are fixed, and are paths of particles, being then called
stream-lines.
tube of flow in
Electricity and
Hydrodynamics, an imaginary tube bounded by surfaces across which there is no flow.
| 1881 Maxwell Electr. & Magn. I. 378 Tube of Flow. 1882 Minchin Unipl. Kinemat. 150 We can in this way map out the whole region by drawing lines of flow. |
c. The quantity that flows, volume of fluid. In
Hydrodynamics, the volume of fluid which flows through a tube of any given section in a unit of time.
| 1807 Med. Jrnl. XXI. 378 Blood, which came out, with a jet, nearly equal to the flow of urine. 1851 Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 218 The flow of blood into them [Muscles] increases with the use that is made of them. 1877 W. H. Besant Hydromech. (ed. 3) 238 The line-integral of the tangential velocity along any line, lying entirely within the fluid, is called the flow along that line. |
d. concr. That which flows; flowing water. Also, a mass of matter that moves or has moved in a stream.
| 1802 Campbell Hohenlinden i, Dark as winter was the flow Of Iser, rolling rapidly. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague i. i, The sunshine dances in its joy O'er the still flow of this majestic river. 1833 Lyell Princ. Geol. II. 240 Reiterated flows of lava. 1880 I. L. Bird Japan II. 152 The flows from the flank and summit craters of the Mauna Loa. |
e. A gradual deformation of a solid (as rock or a metal) under stress in which it suffers a permanent change in shape without fracture or loss of cohesion between its parts.
| 1889 Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv. No. 55. 68 The elaborate and exhaustive series of experiments made by Henri Tresca on ‘the Flow of Solids’. 1897 Geol. Mag. Nov. 513 Some Experiments on the Flow of Rocks. Ibid. 514 The conditions of pressure to which the marble is subjected are those in the ‘zone of flow’ of the earth's crust. 1932 F. F. Grout Petrography vii. 402 The visible deformation of rocks near the surface of the earth is mostly by fracturing and only in very weak rocks, such as clays, by flow. 1959 A. G. Guy Elem. Physical Metall. (ed. 2) ix. 322 We might expect plastic flow to begin when the maximum shear stress reaches a certain value. 1965 A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. (ed. 2) viii. 170 Slate is thus an example of a rock on which a new ‘grain’ has been impressed—partly by the mechanical effects of flow, partly by the growth of new minerals which have similarly accommodated themselves to the direction of flow. 1971 M. J. Manjoine in H. Liebowitz Fracture III. iv. 275 In polycrystalline materials, the initiation and propagation of fracture are usually preceded or accompanied by plastic flow, even though this flow may be small. |
2. Of dress, outlines, etc.: The manner of flowing.
| 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge xxxi, No dress but hers had such a flow as that. 1851 Ruskin Stones Ven. (1874) I. App. 393 In the folds of the drapery..is a flow like that of waves. |
3. a. transf. and
fig. Any continuous movement resembling the even flow of a river and connoting a copious supply; an outpouring or stream;
esp. of speech.
| 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 201 Without any flow of words to greaten it. 1733 Pope Hor. Sat. ii. i. 128 The Feast of Reason and the Flow of Soul. 1775 Pratt Liberal Opin. (1783) I. 3 It is..hard to stop the pen, when the ideas are on the flow. 1782 T. A. Mann in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 420 The rupture with France..has thrown..a flow of Commerce into this Country. 1790 Cowper On my Mother's Picture 65 Thy constant flow of love, that knew no fall. 1796 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. xxxi, They conversed with so much spirit and flow as to draw the attention of Lady Catherine. 1812 Chalmers Let. in Life (1851) I. 296 We have had a flow of forenoon callers. 1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley iv. 50 This vast flow of capital towards one point. 1873 Black Pr. Thule (1874) 22 This flow of talk. 1891 Pall Mall G. 18 Nov. 2/1 The cross flows of traffic. |
b. = honey-flow.
| 1951 E. Crane Dict. Beekeeping Terms 22 Main flow. Miellée principale. Haupttracht. 1952 H. Mace Beekeeper's Man. xvi. 87 In summers of continued drought, clover is soon over on light soil and the flow may not continue more than two or three weeks. 1953 R. Graves Poems 21 In the red West, Where bees come thronging to the apple flow. |
4. The incoming or rise of the tide. Opposed to
ebb; often in phrase
ebb and flow; see
ebb n.1| 1583 Greene Mamillia Wks. (Grosart) II. 39 The greatest flowe hath the soonest ebbe. 1597 Daniel Civ. Wars Wks. (1717) II. 41 The Ocean all at Discord with his Bounds, Reiterates his strange untimely Flows. 1618 Bolton Florus ii. viii. (1636) 118 A..sea having many ebbs & flowes. 1794 Burns Song, ‘Let not woman’ iii, Ocean's ebb, and ocean's flow. 1812 Southey Omniana I. 139 The flow drove him upon shore. 1886 Ruskin Præterita I. vi. 177 The Thames tide, with its tossing wherries at the flow, and stranded barges at ebb. |
| fig. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. ii. 43. 1627–77 Feltham Resolves i. xi. 16 We know not in the flows of our contentedness, what we ourselves are. 1758 S. Haward Serm. Introd. 9 The flows of affliction. 1865 Farrar Chapters on Lang. 270 Great ebbs and flows in the tide of Jewish thought. 1870 [see ebb n. 2.] |
5. † a. A deluge, flood (
obs.).
b. An overflowing; applied
esp. to the periodical overflow of the Nile, or similar phenomena.
| a 1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 345, I am Abraham..That reyned after Noes flowe. 1571 Campion Hist. Irel. ii. x. (1633) 138 A flowe will shake your building. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. vii. 20 They take the flow o' th' Nyle By certain scales i' th' Pyramid. 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 100 Regions fatten'd with the flows of Nile. 1852 Earp Gold Col. Australia 48 The natives look to this periodical flow with as much anxiety as the Egyptians to that of the Nile. |
6. flow of spirits:
a. in early use, a sudden access of cheerfulness or exhilaration;
b. now chiefly (
cf. sense 3) a habitual state of spontaneous cheerfulness.
| 1715–6 Pope Let. to Blount Wks. 1824 VIII. 359 As an unblemished conscience and inflexible resolution are above an accidental flow of spirits, or a sudden tide of blood. 1775 Sheridan Duenna ii. ii, My joy..has given me such a flow of spirits. 18.. Scott Let., No creature can be entitled to reckon upon such a flow of spirits and regular continuation of good health. 1834 West Ind. Sketch-bk. i. 252 A remarkable flow of animal spirits and activity. |
7. Porcelain Manufacture. A flux for causing the colours to ‘flow’ or blend in firing.
| 1878 Jewitt Ceramic Art II. viii. 380 This effect was afterwards imitated..by means of what is technically called a ‘flow’—that is, by introducing a little volatilising salt in the saggar in which the ware is placed and fired. |
† 8. A flowing or full-bottomed wig.
Obs.| 1755 Connoisseur No. 77 ¶5 Young counsellers..in a smart tye between a bob and a flow, contrived to cover a toupee. 1756 Ibid. No. 110 ¶2 In Queen Anne's reign..the nobility..wore large flaxen flows of thirty guineas price. |
9. attrib. and
Comb., as
flow pattern,
flow-rate;
flow-blue, a blue colour applied to pottery or porcelain which diffuses readily through the glaze;
flow chart, a diagram showing the movement of goods, materials, or personnel in any complex system of activities (as an industrial plant) and the sequence of operations they perform or processes they undergo; also, a diagram in which conventional symbols show the sequence of actual or possible operations and decisions in a data-processing system or computer program,
esp. one that is more detailed than a block diagram; hence
flow(-)charting vbl. n.;
flow diagram = flow chart;
flow-dike, an open channel to carry off surface water;
flow-function = velocity-function;
flow (-off) -gate (
Metallurgy), an opening through which the molten metal is run out of the mould;
flow-line, (
a)
= line of flow (sense 1 b); (
b)
pl. [
cf. F.
lignes d'écoulement], the lines that appear on the surface of wrought metal when it is polished and etched, indicating the directions of flow and elongation of the metal during working; (
c) (also
flowline), any of the interrelated routes followed by goods, materials, etc., in passing through the various stages of manufacture or treatment; a route depicted on a flow chart;
flow(-line) production, the continual passage of goods from one machine or piece of equipment to another in the successive stages of production;
flow-meadow, one that may be flooded at will;
flow-meter, an instrument for measuring rate of flow (of gas, liquid fuel, etc.);
flow-pipe, the pipe by which hot water leaves the boiler in a system of heating (see also
quot. 1967);
flow-sheet,
flowsheet = flow chart; hence
flow-sheeting vbl. n.;
flow-structure Geol., the structure in igneous rock produced by the flow of the molten mass before solidification.
| 1961 Webster, *Flow-blue. 1962 K. Shaw Ceramic Colours iv. 42 Flow Blues depend for their formation on the volatilisation of chlorides which combine with the cobalt compound of the underglaze colour..during the glost firing. 1967 J. P. Cushion Eng. China Coll. ii. 71 The early prints tend to be of a rather dark and blurred blue, rather aptly named by the American collectors as ‘flow-blue’. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. 37/4 (Advt.), Primitive scales, andirons, some flow blue china, glass. |
| 1920 C. E. Knoeppel Graphic Production Control xii. 136 What should be considered in making up these *flow charts are [etc.]. 1949 G. R. Terry Office Managem. xxviii. 637 The two types of procedure flow charts are paper distribution and paper correlation. 1966 Digital Computer Needs 156/2 A program..usually includes the preparation of a flow chart showing, diagrammatically, the desired sequence of discriminations and actions. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 242/2 (caption) Flow chart showing scope of automation required in the treatment of a patient in a radiotherapy department. |
| 1964 T. W. McRae Impact of Computers on Accounting i. 27 The technique of *flow charting is especially useful for pointing out improbable or unusual exceptions which have been omitted from the programme. |
| 1943 Industr. & Engin. Chem. July 769/2 A simplified *flow diagram illustrating the first commercial design of a Fluid Catalyst cracking plant. 1947 Goldstine & Von Neumann Planning & Coding of Problems for Electronic Computing Instrument vii. 3 We therefore propose to begin the planning of a coded sequence by laying out a schematic of the course of C [control] through that sequence... This schematic is the flow diagram of C. 1949 D. R. Hartree Calculating Instruments & Machines viii. 112 A method of indicating the structure of the sequence of operating instructions by means of a ‘flow diagram’ representing the control sequence. 1960 R. M. Currie Work Study 60 The flow diagram is a drawing, substantially to scale, of the working area, showing the location of the various activities identified by their numbered symbols. 1963 Times Rev. Industry May 83/1 A flow diagram..sets out every step of the calculation telling the computer exactly what to do wherever an alternative course presents itself. |
| 1812 Souter Agric. Surv. Banff. App. 31 To construct *flow dikes. |
| 1882 Minchin Unipl. Kinemat. 176 Is it possible to determine a velocity-potential function (or a *flow-function) of the form [etc.]? |
| 1881 Wylie Iron Founding 64 A violent bubbling takes place in the *flow-gates. 1889 Pract. Iron Founding iv. 57 In moulds of considerable area, risers or flow off gates are employed. |
| 1882 Minchin Unipl. Kinemat. 248 The *flow-lines will then be lines of electro⁓static induction in the surrounding dielectric. 1912 P. A. Amos Processes Flour Manuf. xxi. 171 Care in ‘block-spacing’..before filling in the flow lines of the stock will keep the figures clear. 1913 G. H. Gulliver Metallic Alloys (ed. 2) vii. 231 When the section is vigorously etched..the surface shows alternate dark and light striations called flow-lines. 1950 Engineering 3 Nov. 334/1 Flow-line production is a particular aspect of mass production. 1956 W. D. Hargreaves in D. L. Linton Sheffield 294 An entirely new plant..provides for the continuous flow-line production of railway axles. 1959 B. Chalmers Physical Metallurgy vii. 348 The strings of inclusions delineate the ‘flow lines’ of a forging, and indicate the directions and regions of weakness. 1960 Times Rev. Industry Apr. 48/1 A simultaneous attack on building layout, handling, flow lines, placing of equipment, and actual methods of construction is rarely carried out. |
| 1834 Brit. Husb. I. 528 *Flow-meadows [called also flowing-meadows]. |
| 1920 Flight XII. 353/1 A petrol *flowmeter should be fitted so that the engineer can see at a glance his fuel consumption. 1925 Odell in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 362 The..flow-meter..was connected up with the rubber tubing conveying the gas from the cylinders to the mouthpiece. 1952 Electronic Engin. XXIV. 162 The flowmeter to be described was designed for continuously recording the rate of flow of blood to the lungs of an animal. |
| 1950 Sci. News XV. 141 Plate 13 shows a typical photograph of the *flow pattern in one of the planes of the model side-blown converter, showing particularly the flow of ‘gases’ above the ‘steel’ surface. 1955 Times 13 June 9/6 ‘Flow patterns’ can be quickly calculated of air movements over the whole of north-western Europe, for interpreting millions of varied and detailed reports of meteorological observations from all over the Northern Hemisphere. |
| 1904 Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 229/2 Flow or *flow pipe, the pipe by which water leaves a boiler. 1967 Gloss. Sanitation Terms (B.S.I.) 34 Flow pipe, a pipe in a primary hot water circuit in which water moves away from the boiler, or a pipe in a secondary hot water circuit in which water moves away from the hot-water storage vessel. |
| 1937 Times 13 Apr. p. xii/2 The layout of the Wolseley factory has been scientifically planned in accordance with modern *flow production methods. 1955 Ibid. 22 June 7/5 The common aim is to achieve in the building of ships a rhythm corresponding to the ‘flow production’ of, say, a motor-car factory. |
| 1960 Ibid. 2 Dec. 17/2 Any significant leak leads to a reduction in *flow-rate at the place of the leak. 1962 Lancet 27 Jan. 182/2 The peak expiratory flow-rate was measured with a Wright's peak flow-meter. |
| 1912 P. A. Amos Processes Flour Manuf. xxi. 171 ‘*Flow-sheets’, or diagrams, illustrating the course through which any material travels whilst undergoing treatment in manufacture. 1932 Auden Orators i. 22 Designs for the flow sheet of a mill. 1963 Times Rev. Industry May 83/2 He can..put the flowsheet information into machine code which entails a detailed time-consuming reproduction of the problem in computer language. |
| 1964 M. Gowing Britain & Atomic Energy xii. 336 This involved much basic design work and *flowsheeting. |
| 1890 *Flow-structure [see fluxion-structure]. 1893 Flow-structure [see fluidal a.]. 1903 Athenæum 11 July 65/2 A flow-structure has been developed in the matrix. 1968 R. A. Lyttleton Myst. Solar Syst. vi. 187 The solidified flow-structure within the tektite. |
▪ II. flow, n.2 (
fləʊ)
Also 9
flo(w)e.
[? a. ON. *flówe (Icel. flói) of same meaning, related to flóa flow v.] 1. ‘A watery moss, a morass’ (
Jam.).
| 16.. in Symson Descr. Galloway (1823) App. iv. 140 Moss Raploch, a great flow on the other side of Die. 1773 Walker in Phil. Trans. LXII. 124 The Solway flow contains 1300 acres of very deep and tender moss. 1835 ‘S. Oliver’ Rambles Northumb. 164 Dreading every instant that he will sink over head into the flow. 1852 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIII. ii. 290 Dangerous ‘flowes’, or shaking bogs. 1895 Crockett Moss-hags xxxiii. Bog-wood dug from the flowes. |
b. (See
quots.)
| 1808–80 Jamieson s.v., The term flow is applied to a low-lying piece of watery land rough and benty, which has not been broken up. 1886 G. A. Lebour Geol. Northumb. & Durh. 11 That part of it which thus dips away from the bog proper is aptly called the ‘flow’ of the bog. |
2. A quicksand.
| 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xvii, He shall stable his steed in the Kelpie's flow. 1882 Stevenson New Arab. Nts. (1884) 210 The wind was driving the hat shoreward, and I ran round the border of the floe. |
3. attrib.| 1831 Loudon Agric. (ed. 2) 1243 *Flow-bog or flow moss, a peat bog, the surface of which is liable to rise and fall with every increase or diminution of water. |
| c 1565 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (1728) 130 He..ran his Horse into a *Flow-Moss. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxviii, ‘There wasna muckle flowmoss in the shaw.’ |
▪ III. flow, n.3 Sc. (
fləʊ)
[Of obscure origin; perh. f. root of flaw n. or fly v.1] ‘A jot, a particle, a small portion of any thing’ (
Jam.).
| 1804 W. Tarras Poems 45 Wha on life's dainties nicely chow Yet left yir bard wi' fient a flowe. 1827 Tennant Papistry Storm'd 69 Powther'd gay Wi' flows o' flour. 1840 Webster in Whistlebinkie (Sc. Songs) Ser. ii. (1890) I. 220 Tak hame a wee flow to your wife To help to be brose to your supper. |
▪ IV. flow, v. (
fləʊ)
pa. tense and pa. pple. flowed (
fləʊd). Forms:
inf. 1
flówan, 3
flohen, 3–5
flowen, (3
flouwen),
Orm. flowenn,
south. vlowen, 4
floȝe,
flowyn, 5–7
flowe, 5–
flow.
pa. tense 1
fléow,
pl. fleowon, 3
fleaw,
flew,
south. vleau; weak forms: 3
fléowede,
Orm. flowedd, 4
floȝed,
flowede, 6
flowd, 6–
flowed.
pa. pple. 1
flówen, 4–7
flowen, 7–8
flown; 6–
flowed.
[OE. flówan, a redupl. str. vb. occurring as such only in Eng. From the same root *flô- are the wk. vbs. ON. flóa to flood, Du. vloeijen (= LG. flojen) to flow, and the Com. Teut. *flôđu-s flood n. The wk. pa. tense and pa. pple. appear in early ME.; the original str. pa. tense appears not to have survived into the 14th c., but the str. pa. pple., though rare after 15th c., occurs down to the 18th c. (and still later as an archaism or a blunder, esp. in the compound overflown). The
Teut. *flô-:—pre-Teut.
*plō- in
Gr. πλώειν, to swim, float, πλωτός floating, navigable, L.
plōrāre to weep. According to some scholars this is an ablaut-variant of
*plē- to fill, be full (
cf. Gr. πληθύς fullness, L.
plēnus full),
perh. an extended form of
*pel-: see
full a. Others regard.
*plō- as standing for
*plōu- lengthened grade of the root
*pleu-,
plou-,
plu- (
Teut. *fleu-,
flau-,
flu-), whence
Skr. plu to swim, bathe,
Gr. πλέειν to sail, πλύνειν to wash, L.
pluit it rains,
OHG. flewen,
flawen (
MHG. vlöuwen,
vlæen) to rinse, ON,
flaumr stream.
The sense-development of the
vb. in
Eng. shows traces of influence from the like-sounding but etymologically unconnected L.
fluĕre, of which it is the usual translation.]
I. To glide along as a stream.
1. a. intr. Of fluids, a stream, etc.: To move on a gently inclined surface with a continual change of place among the particles or parts; to move along in a current; to stream, run; to spread
over (a surface). Also with
along,
down,
on,
out.
| a 1000 Sal. & Sat. 321 (Gr.) Siððan flowan mot yð ofer eal lond. c 1200 Ormin 14567 & ta wass waterr wid & sid All oferr erþe flowedd. a 1250 Owl & Night. 918 An ydel wel, That..flohþ on idel thar a-dune. c 1325 Body & Soul in Map's Poems (Camden) 347 The thridde day shal flowe a flod that al this world shal hylen. a 1400–50 Alexander 2053 For bale to Blissh on blod þat on þe bent flowes. 1554 in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. xxiv. 67 Yf the water in Egypt called Nilus dyd not accustomably flow over Egypt. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 11 Siloa's Brook that flow'd Fast by the Oracle of God. 1704 Pope Winter 13 Thames heard the numbers as he flow'd along. 1793 Burns Song, Wandering Willie ii, O still flow between us, thou wide roaring main. 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. I. 363 The acid..is allowed to flow consecutively into the lower vessels. 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 204 To admit of being discharged freely from the brush without flowing or spreading on the canvas. |
b. Opposed to ‘stand’. See
flowing ppl. a.
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 37 With Osier Floats the standing Water strow; Of massy stones make Bridges, if it flow. |
c. Of the blood or other animal fluids: To pass along the vessels of the body; to circulate.
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. iii. 52 Lord Angelo..scarce confesses That his blood flowes. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. ii, Trade, which like blood should circularly flow, Stopped in their channels. 1786 Burns Song, My Highland Lassie O iii, While my crimson currents flow, I'll love my Highland lassie. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam vii. xxi. 5 Our pulses [would] calmly flow and beat In response while we slept. 1845 Budd Dis. Liver 276 Gall-stones are formed in numbers in the gall-bladder, only when the bile can flow into it through the cystic duct. |
d. With advbs.
to flow over = to overflow.
| 1526 Tindale 2 Cor. viii. 2 And howe that their povertie, though yt be depe, yet hath folowed [sic] over. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. v. ii. 24 My Lord Who is so full of Grace, that it flowes ouer On all that neede. |
e. quasi-trans. Of a river: To carry down (water) in its current.
| 1885 Century Mag. Sept. 747 It [a river] was flowing muddy water at the time. |
† 2. a. To become liquid; to stream
down, melt;
lit. and
fig. Obs.| c 825 Vesp. Psalter lxvii[i]. 3 Swe floweð wex from onsiene fyres. a 1225 Ancr. R. 110 His moderes wop & þe oðres Maries, þæt fleoweden & melten al of teares. 1382 Wyclif Isa. lxiv. 1 Fro thi face hillis shulden flowe doun. 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. v in Ashm. (1652) 59 For nothinge maie be more contrary nowe Than to be fixt and unperfectly flowe. 1641 French Distill. iv. (1651) 105 This Oil of Tartar must bee made of salt of Tartar after it hath flowed in the fire. 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. ii. i. 148 Yielding Metal flow'd to human form. |
† b. fig. To be unsteady, waver.
Obs.| 1434 Misyn Mending Life 112 Se þat þou flow nott with vayn þoghtis. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems vi. 47 My hert that neuir wes sic[k]ir..That never mair wald flow nor flickir. |
c. Ceram. To work or blend freely: said of a glaze. (
Cent. Dict.)
d. Of a solid: to suffer a permanent (
i.e. non-elastic) change in shape under stress without fracturing or rupturing.
| 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 595/2 When the stress is sufficiently increased..the substance then assumes what may be called a completely plastic state; it flows under the applied stress like a viscous liquid. 1888 Flowing metal [see flowing ppl. a. 1]. 1894–5 Van Hise in 16th Ann. Rep. U.S. Geol. Surv. i. 594 Whether rocks flow or fracture is in many cases largely dependent on the rapidity of deformation. 1897 Geol. Mag. Nov. 514 The experiments therefore show that limestone..does possess a certain degree of plasticity, and can be made to ‘flow’. 1901 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. CXCV. 398 Many limestones under pressure in the earth's crust flow precisely as metals do. 1914 Ries & Watson Engin. Geol. iii. 192 When subjected to stresses of sufficient intensity, rocks are deformed either by fracturing or by flowing. 1932 F. F. Grout Petrography vii. 402 At moderate and great depths in the crust, competent rocks yield elastically up to the elastic limit and then fracture; and weaker ones recrystallize and flow. 1971 M. J. Manjoine in H. Liebowitz Fracture III. iv. 278 In this region, the material can flow more rapidly at a lower stress. |
3. a. Of persons or animals: To come or go ‘in a stream or streams.’ Also with
in,
together.
| 1382 Wyclif Jer. xxxi. 12 Thei shul..togidere flowen to the goodus of the Lord [1388 and thei schulen flowe togidere to the goodis of the Lord]. 1611 Bible Jer. li. 44 The nations shall not flow together any more vnto him. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage ii. x. (1614) 160 Thence they [Iewes] flowed into other parts. 1742 Pope Dunc. iv. 275 In flow'd at once a gay embroider'd race. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam v. xli. 2 To hear the restless multitudes..Around the base of that great Altar flow. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 166 Men flowed in so plentifully that [etc.]. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer xix, He..confined himself to riding..round the cattle on the camp, preventing them from flowing out in unnecessary directions. |
b. Of things material and immaterial: To move, pass as a stream. Also with
away,
down,
in,
together.
| 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. li. 9 For the deth flowende doun I louly preȝede. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 137 Thus the victory flowed some tyme on the one parte, and sometyme on the other. 1560 Bible (Genev.) Job xx. 28 The increase of his house shall go away; it shall flow away in the day of his wrath. 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 435 The euils of the precedent ages are flowne together into this. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxix. 173 The Treasure of the Common-wealth, flowing out of its due course. 1717 Pope Elegy Unfort. Lady 25 As into air the purer spirits flow. 1780 Coxe Russ. Disc. 188 The final success which flowed in upon him. 1816 Shelley Alastor 533 As fast years flow away. 1833 H. Martineau Berkeley the Banker i. vii. 141 Gold flowed in. 1878 Jewitt Ceramic Art. II. viii. 350 Orders for the new kind of ware flowed in upon him. |
4. Of composition or speech; in early use of a speaker or writer: To glide along smoothly, like a river.
| 1585 Jas. I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 59 The first lyne flowis weil, and the vther nathing at all. 1643 Denham Cooper's H. 189 Could I flow like thee [Thames], and make thy streame My great example. 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. ii. i. 266 Wit grew polite, and Numbers learn'd to flow. 1859 Kingsley Misc. (1860) I. 227 The most unmetrical..passages flow with a grace, a lightness [etc.]. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf. Skirl. III. 252 Conversation flowed freely. |
5. Of a garment, hair, etc.: To ‘stream’; to hang loose and waving; to lie in undulating curves. Also
† of a person:
to flow with (hair).
| 1606 B. Jonson Hymenæi Wks. (Rtldg.) 558 From the top of which [coronet] flow'd a transparent veile. 1608 ― Masque Beauty Splendour Wks. (Rtldg.) 549/1 Her bright hayre loose flowing. 1648 Herrick Hesper. 29 A Cuffe neglectfull, and thereby Ribbands to flow confusedly. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 241 Over his lucid Armes A militarie Vest of purple flowd. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 146 Grim Saturn..flow'd with such a Mane. 1712 Congreve Ovid's Art Love iii. 376 Swell'd with the wanton wind, they [her coats] loosely flow. 1782 Cowper Gilpin xlvi, A wig that flowed behind. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xvi, Mark the gaudy streamers flow From their loud chanters down. a 1881 Rossetti House of Life vii, Across my breast the abandoned hair doth flow. |
6. Math. To increase or diminish continuously by infinitesimal quantities: to ‘vary’ (in the Newtonian Calculus). See
fluent.
| 1715 Phil. Trans. XXIX. 204 When the Letter x is put for a Quantity which flows uniformly, the symbol χ. is an Unit. 1758 I. Lyons Fluxions 4, x flows from x–½ χ to x + ½ χ. 1828 Hutton Course Math. II. 304 To obtain the second fluxion it will suffice to make xn–1 flow. |
† 7. trans. (
causatively).
a. To make to flow, set flowing
in,
out.
b. To make fluid.
Obs.| 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) v. i. 74 God must nedes contynuelly flowen oute his bounte. 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. v. in Ashm. (1652) 79 Liquors helpeth to flux and to flowe Manie things. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 21 The Church is..verie wel compared vnto the sea, which floweth out waues from euery porch or entrie. 1635 R. Brathwait Arcad. Pr. ii. (1635) 175, I plenteously flowed in my afternoone's potation. |
c. In
Founding, to permit (the molten metal) to flow through the mould long enough to carry off all air and foreigh matter, in order to insure a casting free from bubbles and similar defects; to run through. (
Cent. Dict.)
d. Naut. (See
quot.)
| 1883 W. C. Russell Sailor's Lang., Flow, to let go the sheet of a head-sail. |
II. To stream forth, issue in a stream.
8. a. To gush out, well forth, spring. Also with
down,
forth,
out,
over.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter lxxvii[i]. 20 Forðon sloᵹ stan & fleowun weter. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John xiv. 34 Hrædlice þar fleow blod ut & wæter. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3875 Ðo flew ðor water michil and strong. a 1400–50 Alexander 1350 Þar flowe out of fresh wynne flodez enowe. 1574 T. Hill Planting 77 When the humour thereof is somewhat flowen. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. xxi. 302 The sappe, when..first flowen out, is white. 1591 Spenser Ruins Time 651 Streams of blood foorth flowed on the grass. c 1724 Swift Fontinella 4 Endless tears flow down in streams. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 251 The blood will continue to flow..till the exhausted animal expires. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxix, His tears flowed plentifully and bitterly. |
b. To issue or proceed
from,
† of,
out of, something as a source.
| c 1200 Ormin 4783 War & wirrsenn toc anan Vt off hiss lic to flowenn. a 1240 Lofsong in Cott. Hom. 211 Þet flod þet fleaw of þine wunden. 1535 Coverdale 2 Esdras i. 20 Dyd not I hew y⊇ hardstone & caused water ynough to flowe thereout? 1609 J. Davies Holy Roode (Grosart) 20/1 His Gore, That from his Blood-founts..flow'd before. 1824 R. Stuart Hist. Steam Engine 62 Cold water is now allowed to flow from the reservoir. |
| transf. and fig. 1382 Wyclif Song Sol. iv. 16 Bloȝ thurȝ my gardyn, and ther shul flowe swote spices of it. 1545 Joye Exp. Dan. Text vii. 10 Longe fyery beames lyke a floude of fyer flouwing out of him. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ii. 75 This City was..the great Cisterne of Europe, whence flowed so many conduit pipes of learning. 1682 Burnet Rights Princes ii. 40 Some other reason that flowed not from him. 1713 Steele Englishman No. 10. 66 His Behaviour does not flow from an Hardness in his Mind. 1794 Burns A Vision vii, Frae his harp sic strains did flow. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 306 This rule flows..from the nature of a remainder. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. xxxvii. 27 The Authority of the State Constitutions does not flow from Congress. |
c. Of a person: To pour out one's feelings. Also with
out.
| 1677 Government Venice Ep. Ded. 3, I perceive I am flown out insensibly in your praises. 1863 Hawthorne Our Old Home, Recoll. Gifted Woman (1884) 91 The interview lasted above an hour, during which she flowed out freely. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 563 The mother flow'd in shallower acrimonies. |
† d. trans. To pour forth in a stream. (Perh. reminiscent of the
trans. use in 14 below).
| 1550 Cranmer Def. 77 b, The stone that floweth water. 1906 Amer. Naturalist June 446, I observed a tree which flowed little sap and continued flowing after the other trees had ceased. |
9. Of the menstrual discharge. Said also of the person.
| 1754–64 [see catamenia]. 1894 Duane Dict. Med., Flow, to menstruate; especially to menstruate profusely. |
III. To run full; to be in flood.
10. Of the sea, a tidal river, etc.: To rise and advance; frequent in phrase
to ebb and flow: see
ebb v. 1.
to flow south, tide and half tide (see
quots. 1627 and 1721).
Cf. flood n. 1.
| c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 327 Seo sæ symle feower prican oððe fif lator flowð. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 177 Eft son þe se flouweð. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 397 Bi þat þe flod to her fete floȝed & waxed. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems 196 Watir..Now ebbithe, flowithe. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 441 Thys yere the Thamys did flowe three times in one daye. 1624 Heywood Gunaik. iv. 182 The waters..were flowed eighteene cubites above their woonted compasse. 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 17 It flowes quarter floud. 1627 ― Seaman's Gram. (1653) 47 It flowes Tide and halfe Tide, that is, it will be halfe flood by the shore, before it begin to flow in the channell. 1691 Swift Athenian Soc. Wks. 1755 IV. i. 229 When the deluge first began to fall, That mighty ebb never to flow again. 1721–1800 in Bailey, It Flows South [Sea Phrase] it is high Water when the Sun is at that Point at new or full Moon. 1739 C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Bridge 34 Before the Tide had flown or risen so high. 1816 Byron Prisoner of Chillon vi, The massy waters ebb and flow. 1830 Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 304 In the Thames..the tide requires about five hours to flow up. 1884 Pae Eustace 7 The tide was flowing. |
| fig. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 206 Vertue wolde fflowe whan vicis were ebbid. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 72 Doth it [pride] not flow as hugely as the Sea? 1786 Burns Ded. to G. Hamilton 111 When ebbing life nae mair shall flow. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam v. li. 2 The throngs which ever ebbed and flowed. 1820 Sporting Mag. VII. 25 The tide of success that flowed to Vauxhall. |
† 11. a. To rise to a great height and overflow. In
fig. phrases,
to flow above the banks,
to flow past shore: to overflow.
Obs.| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxli. (1495) 945 The ryuer Nylus was flowen and arysen. a 1625 Beaum. & Fl. False One iii. iv, Let Nylus flow, And perpetuall plenty show. |
| fig. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. ii. 36 In wine and meats she flowd aboue the bancke. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. ii. 41 You flow to great distraction. 1615 Chapman Odyss. iii. 335 Grave Nestor..flows Past shore in all experience. |
b. The
obs. pa. pple. flown,
orig. used of a stream with the sense ‘swollen’, ‘in flood’ (see
quot. c 1510), was used
fig. in 17th c. of persons, and survives in allusions to Milton's phrase. (It is doubtful whether the etymological sense was remembered in the 17th c.)
Cf. highflown.
| c 1510 Sir R. Guilford's Pilgrimage (Camden) 31 Cedron..in wynter.. is meruaylously flowen with rage of water y{supt} commyth with grete vyolence thrugh the vale of Josophat. a 1656 Ussher Ann. vi. (1658) 250 Being somewhat high flowen with wine. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 501 Then wander forth the Sons Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine. 1725 Pope Odyss. i. 292 Unseemly flown with insolence and wine. 1879 Butcher & Lang Odyss. 8 In such wise, flown with insolence, do they seem to me to revel. |
† 12. Of the eyes: To become overfull, to fill
of,
with (tears, etc.)
Obs.| a 1225 Ancr. R. 64 Al þe leor schal ulowen o teares, he seið. a 1240 Wohunge in Cott Hom. 283 Nu min herte mai to breke, min ehne flowen al o water. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xxx, Then can I drowne an eye (vn-vs'd to flow). c 1689 Prior To Ld. Buckhurst 19 Her eyes with tears no more will flow. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 235 ¶3, I have often seen the old Man's Heart flow at his Eyes with joy. |
13. Of wine, etc.: To be poured out without stint; also
fig. † In early use of wealth, etc. (after L.
affluĕre): To abound.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. lxi[i]. 11 [10] Þeah þe eow wealan to wearmum flowen. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxii. 85 Sorowes and heuynesses dyde flowe at her herte in grete haboundance. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 633 Rubied nectar flows In pearl, in diamond, and massy gold. 1782 Cowper Charity 279 When thought is warm and fancy flows. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam ix. xvii. 2 Gold was scattered thro' the streets, and wine Flowed at a hundred feasts. |
14. to flow with († in, † of): to abound in, to overflow with. Now rare
exc. in Biblical phrase
to flow with milk and honey (Wyclif and Mandeville, following a barbarism of the Vulgate, use the
vb. in this phrase as transitive).
| 1382 Wyclif Exod. iii. 8 A loond that flowith [1388 with] mylk and hony. 1388 ― Eccl. xi. 25 Who schal..flowe in delicis as Y dide? c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxx. 137, I sall giffe to ȝow land flowande mylke and hony. 1539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1545) 53 Suche as flowe in worldly goodes. a 1592 H. Smith Three Serm. (1624) 23 Christ so flowed now with Diciples, that [etc.]. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 877 The Unjust and Ungodly, often flow in all kind of Prosperity. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. III. lii. 269 A land flowing with milk and honey. |
15. a. trans. To cover or fill with water; to flood.
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. xxviii. 17 The proteccioun watris shul flowe. 1666 Evelyn Mem. 8 May (1819) I. 386 Here I flowed the drie moate. 1712 Mortimer Husb. ii. 232 Watering..is scarce practicable, unless you have a Stream at hand to flow the Ground. 1845 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VI. ii. 274 Care being taken not to flow the land in summer where sheep are kept. |
b. To cover with any liquid, as varnish or glaze, by causing it to flow over the surface. Also, To allow (a film) to flow.
| 1864 J. Towler Silver Sunbeam 144 The glass is filed, cleaned, and flowed with collodion, as before directed. 1889 Anthony's Photogr. Bull. II. 257 As if a very attenuated film of milk and water had been flowed over its surface. |
16. Of the tide: To overtake and surround (a person).
dial. (See
quots.)
| 1735 Dyche & Pardon, Flow, to come upon a Person or Thing greatly or hastily, like the Motion of Water when the Tide is coming in. 1875 Sussex Gloss. s.v., ‘If you doant mind you'll be flown in, one of these days.’ 1876 Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘They got flow'd on.’ |
Hence
ˈflower (
fləʊə(r)),
Metallurgy, a flow-gate (see
flow n.1 9).
| 1881 Wylie Iron-Founding 50 The use of flo'ers or gates. Ibid. 66 According to the thickness of the part so should the size of the flow'er be. |