Definition: flow

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

flow
     n 1: the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases) [syn:
           flowing]
     2: the amount of fluid that flows in a given time [syn: flow
        rate, rate of flow]
     3: the act of flowing or streaming; continuous progression
        [syn: 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" [syn: 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" [syn: stream, current]
     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 [syn: menstruation,
         menses, catamenia, period]
     v 1: move or progress freely as if in a stream; "The crowd flowed
          out of the stadium" [syn: flux]
     2: move along, of liquids; "Water flowed into the cave" [syn: run,
         course]
     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" [syn: hang, fall]
     6: cover or swamp with water
     7: undergo menstruation; "She started menstruating at the age
        of 11" [syn: menstruate]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Flow \Flow\ (fl[=o]), obs.
   imp. sing. of Fly, v. i. --Chaucer.
Flow \Flow\ (fl[=o]), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flowed (fl[=o]d); p.
   pr. & vb. n. Flowing.] [AS. fl[=o]wan; akin to D. vloeijen,
   OHG. flawen to wash, Icel. fl[=o]a to deluge, Gr. plw`ein to
   float, sail, and prob. ultimately to E. float, fleet.
   [root]80. Cf. Flood.]
   1. To move with a continual change of place among the
      particles or parts, as a fluid; to change place or
      circulate, as a liquid; as, rivers flow from springs and
      lakes; tears flow from the eyes.

   2. To become liquid; to melt.

            The mountains flowed down at thy presence. --Is.
                                                  lxiv. 3.

   3. To proceed; to issue forth; as, wealth flows from industry
      and economy.

            Those thousand decencies that daily flow From all
            her words and actions.                --Milton.

   4. To glide along smoothly, without harshness or asperties;
      as, a flowing period; flowing numbers; to sound smoothly
      to the ear; to be uttered easily.

            Virgil is sweet and flowingin his hexameters.
                                                  --Dryden.

   5. To have or be in abundance; to abound; to full, so as to
      run or flow over; to be copious.

            In that day . . . the hills shall flow with milk.
                                                  --Joel iii.
                                                  18.

            The exhilaration of a night that needed not the
            influence of the flowing bowl.        --Prof.
                                                  Wilson.

   6. To hang loose and waving; as, a flowing mantle; flowing
      locks.

            The imperial purple flowing in his train. --A.
                                                  Hamilton.

   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.

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10) 

Flow

   <tool> A companion utility to Floppy by Julian James Bunn
   <julian@vxcrna.cxern.ch>.  Flow allows the user to produce
   various reports on the structure of Fortran 77 code, such as
   flow diagrams and common block tables.  It runs under VMS,
   Unix, CMS.

   Posted to comp.sources.misc volume 31.

   (1995-03-14)