Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Deluge?

\Del"uge\, n. [F. d['e]luge, L. diluvium, fr. diluere wash away; di- = dis- + luere, equiv. to lavare to wash. See {Lave}, and cf. {Diluvium}.] 1. A washing away; an overflowing of the land by water; an inundation; a flood; specifically, The Deluge, the great flood in the days of Noah (--Gen. vii.). 2. Fig.: Anything which overwhelms, or causes great destruction. ``The deluge of summer.'' --Lowell. A fiery deluge fed With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed. --Milton. As I grub up some quaint old fragment of a [London] street, or a house, or a shop, or tomb or burial ground, which has still survived in the deluge. --F. Harrison. After me the deluge. (Apr['e]s moi le d['e]luge.) --Madame de Pompadour.
\Del"uge\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Deluged}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Deluging}.] 1. To overflow with water; to inundate; to overwhelm. The deluged earth would useless grow. --Blackmore. 2. To overwhelm, as with a deluge; to cover; to overspread; to overpower; to submerge; to destroy; as, the northern nations deluged the Roman empire with their armies; the land is deluged with woe. At length corruption, like a general flood . . . Shall deluge all. --Pope.