A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. In the sense of “ flowing water”, the world may also be applied to inflow of the tide. Flooding may result from the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, which overflows or break levees, with the result that some of the water escapes its unusual boundaries.

    While the size of a lake or other body of water will vary with seasonal changes in precipitation and show melt, it is not a significant flood unless such escapes of water endanger land areas used by men like a village, city, or other inhabited areas.

    Floods can also occur in rivers, when flow exceeds the capacity of the river channel, particularly at bends or meanders. Flood often causes damage to homes and businesses if they are placed in natural flood plains of rivers. While flood damage can be virtually eliminated by moving away from and other bodies of water, since time out of mind, people have lived and worked by the water to seek sustenance and capitalize on the gains of cheap and easy travel and commerce by being near water. That humans continue to inhabit areas threatened by flood damage is evidence that the perceived value of living near the water exceeds the cost of repeated periodic flooding.

60. “. . ., it is not significant flood unless such escapes of water endanger land areas used by man . . .” (paragraph 2). The underlined word is closest in meaning to . . . .