outflow

English

Etymology

From Middle English outflowen, from late Old English ūtflōwan (attested in the past tense as ūt flēow), equivalent to out- +‎ flow. The noun is derived from the verb.

Noun

outflow (countable and uncountable, plural outflows)

1. The process of flowing out.

   • Flowing definition

     present participle and gerund of flow

   • Out definition

     Away from the inside, centre or other point of reference. (1 of 9 out definitions)
2. A fluid that flows out.
   • December 2020, Tim Folger, “North America’s most valuable resource is at risk”, in National Geographic‎^[1]:

     Borg’s home, which he built with his wife and two sons among tall conifers 33 years ago, overlooks the Nipigon River, an outflow from the lake of the same name.

   • Fluid definition

     Any substance which can flow with relative ease, tends to assume the shape of its container, and obeys Bernoulli's principle; a liquid, gas or plasma. (1 of 3 fluid definitions)
3. Any outward movement.

   • Outward definition

     outer; located towards the outside (1 of 4 outward definitions)
4. (astronomy) A stream of gaseous material emanating from an active galactic nucleus.

   • Astronomy definition

     The study of the physical universe beyond the Earth's atmosphere, including the process of mapping locations and properties of the matter and radiation in the universe. (1 of 2 astronomy definitions)

   • Stream definition

     A small river; a large creek; a body of moving water confined by banks. (1 of 8 stream definitions)

   • Active Galactic Nucleus definition

     A compact region at the center of a galaxy that has a much higher than normal luminosity over at least some portion of the (measurable) electromagnetic spectrum.
5. The part of a system that allows material to flow out.
6. (sewage) Something that flows out of a sewage treatment plant.

   • Sewage definition

     A suspension of water and solid waste, transported by sewers to be disposed of or processed. (1 of 2 sewage definitions)

Synonyms

• (process of flowing out): effluence, efflux, effluxion

Derived terms

• bipolar outflow
• circumstellar outflow
• galactic outflow
• galactic-scale outflow
• mass outflow
• molecular outflow
• outflow boundary

Translations

Verb

outflow (third-person singular simple present outflows, present participle outflowing, simple past and past participle outflowed)

1. (intransitive) To flow outward.

Translations