Phrase guide

flash flood

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A sudden, rapid flood, usually of short duration and local impact.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: climatology, meteorology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a sudden local flood of great volume and short duration

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: flashflood

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: flood, inundation, deluge, alluvion

Narrower terms: floodhead

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Assamese: ধল (dhôl) — sudden flood
  • Bengali: ধল (dhol) — sudden flood
  • Chinese Mandarin: 暴洪 (bàohóng) — sudden flood
  • Dimasa: dibaola — sudden flood
  • Dutch: stortvloed — sudden flood
  • Finnish: äkkitulva — sudden flood
  • Finnish: syöksytulva — sudden flood
  • French: crue éclair — sudden flood
  • Georgian: ნიაღვარი (niaɣvari) — sudden flood
  • German: Sturzflut — sudden flood
  • Indonesian: banjir bandang — sudden flood
  • Irish: maidhm thuile — sudden flood
  • Japanese: 鉄砲水 (teppōmizu) — sudden flood
  • Malay: banjir kilat — sudden flood
  • Norwegian Bokmål: styrtflom — sudden flood
  • Polish: nagła powódź — sudden flood
  • Portuguese: enchente relâmpago — sudden flood
  • Russian: внеза́пное наводне́ние (vnezápnoje navodnénije) — sudden flood
  • Spanish: crecida — sudden flood
  • Spanish: inundación repentina — sudden flood
  • Tagalog: biglaang pagbaha — sudden flood
  • Thai: น้ําป่า (náam-bpàa) — sudden flood
  • Vietnamese: lũ quét — sudden flood
  • Waray-Waray: daralwa — sudden flood