7. To rise, as the tide; — opposed to ebb; as, the tide flows twice in twenty-four hours.
The river hath thrice flowed, no ebb between.
Shak. 8. To discharge blood in excess from the uterus.
Flow
(Flow), v. t.
1. To cover with water or other liquid; to overflow; to inundate; to flood.
2. To cover with varnish.
Flow
(Flow), n.
1. A stream of water or other fluid; a current; as, a flow of water; a flow of blood.
2. A continuous movement of something abundant; as, a flow of words.
3. Any gentle, gradual movement or procedure of thought, diction, music, or the like, resembling the
quiet, steady movement of a river; a stream.
The feast of reason and the flow of soul.
Pope. 4. The tidal setting in of the water from the ocean to the shore. See Ebb and flow, under Ebb.
5. A low-lying piece of watery land; — called also flow moss and flow bog. [Scot.] Jamieson.
Flowage
(Flow"age) n. An overflowing with water; also, the water which thus overflows.
Flowen
(Flow"en) obs. imp. pl. of Fly, v. i. Chaucer.
Flower
(Flow"er) n. [OE. flour, OF. flour, flur, flor, F. fleur, fr. L. flos, floris. Cf. Blossom, Effloresce,
Floret, Florid, Florin, Flour, Flourish.]
1. In the popular sense, the bloom or blossom of a plant; the showy portion, usually of a different color,
shape, and texture from the foliage.
2. (Bot.) That part of a plant destined to produce seed, and hence including one or both of the sexual
organs; an organ or combination of the organs of reproduction, whether inclosed by a circle of foliar parts
or not. A complete flower consists of two essential parts, the stamens and the pistil, and two floral envelopes,
the corolla and callyx. In mosses the flowers consist of a few special leaves surrounding or subtending
organs called archegonia. See Blossom, and Corolla.
If we examine a common flower, such for instance as a geranium, we shall find that it consists of: First,
an outer envelope or calyx, sometimes tubular, sometimes consisting of separate leaves called sepals; secondly,
an inner envelope or corolla, which is generally more or less colored, and which, like the calyx, is sometimes
tubular, sometimes composed of separate leaves called petals; thirdly, one or more stamens, consisting
of a stalk or filament and a head or anther, in which the pollen is produced; and fourthly, a pistil, which
is situated in the center of the flower, and consists generally of three principal parts; one or more compartments
at the base, each containing one or more seeds; the stalk or style; and the stigma, which in many familiar
instances forms a small head, at the top of the style or ovary, and to which the pollen must find its way
in order to fertilize the flower. Sir J. Lubbock.
