flow: [OE] The prehistoric Indo-European *pleu-, ancestor of a heterogeneous range of English vocabulary, from fleet to plover, denoted ‘flow, float’. It had a variant form *plō-, which passed into Germanic as *flō-. This formed the basis of the Old English verb flōwan (whence modern English flow) and also of the noun flood. => fleet, flood, fowl, plover, pluvial
flow (v.)
Old English flowan "to flow, stream, issue; become liquid, melt; abound, overflow" (class VII strong verb; past tense fleow, past participle flowen), from Proto-Germanic *flowan "to flow" (cognates: Middle Dutch vloyen, Dutch vloeien, vloeijen "to flow," Old Norse floa "to deluge," Old High German flouwen "to rinse, wash"), probably from PIE *pleu- "flow, float" (see pluvial). The weak form predominated from 14c., but strong past participle flown is occasionally attested through 18c. Related: Flowed; flowing.
flow (n.)
mid-15c., "action of flowing," from flow (v.). Meaning "amount that flows" is from 1807. Sense of "any strong, progressive movement comparable to the flow of a river" is from 1640s. Flow chart attested from 1920 (flow-sheet in same sense from 1912). To go with the flow is by 1977, apparently originally in skiing jargon.
Go with the flow, enjoy the forces, let ankles, knees, hips and waist move subtly to soak up potential disturbances of acceleration and deceleration. ["Ski" magazine, November 1980]
实用例句
1. She unbound her hair and let it flow loose in the wind.
她把头发解开，让它随风飘动。
来自柯林斯例句
2. These dams have restricted the flow of the river downstream.
这些堤坝限制了河水顺流而下。
来自柯林斯例句
3. A French-based pharmaceuticals company ran into cash-flow problems and faced liquidation.
法国的一家制药公司陷入资金周转问题，面临清算的危机。
来自柯林斯例句
4. She watched the frantic flow of cars and buses along the street.
她注视着街上小汽车和巴士汇成的滚滚车流。
来自柯林斯例句
5. A barrage would halt the flow upstream and lift the water level.
