flow meaning and definition

FLOW noun

Definition of flow (noun)

1. the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases)
   • synonyms: flowing
2. the amount of fluid that flows in a given time
   • synonyms: flow rate, rate of flow
3. the act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression
   • synonyms: 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"
   • synonyms: 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"
   • synonyms: current, stream
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
   • synonyms: catamenia, menses, menstruation, menstruum, period

FLOW verb

Definition of flow (verb)

1. move or progress freely as if in a stream
   • "The crowd flowed out of the stadium"
   • synonyms: flux
2. move along, of liquids
   • "Water flowed into the cave"; "the Missouri feeds into the Mississippi"
   • synonyms: course, feed, run
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"
   • synonyms: fall, hang
6. cover or swamp with water
7. undergo menstruation
   • "She started menstruating at the age of 11"
   • synonyms: menstruate