to flood in
- phrasal verb
- After announcing the job openings, applications began to flood in from candidates all over the country.
Meanwhile, calls continue to flood in about the hand in the trunk.
- Meanwhile, calls continue to flood in about the hand in the trunk.
- Elon Musk didn't like that, so he bought the platform and then the the Nazis flooded in.
- The messages started flooding in just continuously.
- I mean, anguish, empathy, all sorts of emotions are just flooding in to the scans.
Examples
-
Applications from groups in partnership with municipalities flooded in from around the world.
Blog text (12) -
Meanwhile, calls continue to flood in about the hand in the trunk.
-
Reports from all over the world are flooding in.
-
Then yellow cards start flooding in, with reports of terrible side effects.
Blog text (19) -
Messages were still flooding in from every outside unit.
-
In the following weeks, thousands of reports of flying saucers flooded in from much of the world.
-
Men, women, and children flood in through the turnstiles.
Fiction book (2002) -
Within minutes, requests for help from contestants start flooding in.
Fiction book (1995) -
Displaced rural dwellers are flooding urban centers in search of employment.
Academic text (2007) -
A rowdy group of frat boys floods in, loud and busy.
Fiction book (1998)
Synonyms
To arrive and be received, for example news or donations
Many people or animals move somewhere quickly in a steady stream
To move suddenly and strongly forward or upward, like a wave
Act quickly without thinking, for example by going into a place
To enter a room suddenly and interrupt people
Antonyms
How Many
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'arrive in very large numbers' is directly derivable from combining 'flood' (a large influx) with 'in' (movement into a place). The metaphorical use of 'flood' to describe crowds entering is common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would very likely infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Flood in comes from the picture of water (flood) rushing in to a room or street and filling it quickly. So when people or things 'flood in', they arrive suddenly and in very large numbers.