Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To wash or flow over; spread over or on.
  • In geology, consisting of drift carried by streams from a glacier and deposited on the outer side of its moraine.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To overflow.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To wash too much or too often.
  • verb intransitive To become flooded.
  • noun The flow of water and sediment over the crest of a beach that does not directly return to the water body.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

over- +‎ wash

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Examples

  • As of earlier this morning, peak sustained winds along the N.C. coast were in the 45-60 mph range (tropical storm force) with gusts as high as around 75-80 mph, and maximum storm surges were around 2-3 feet resulting in ocean overwash.

    Earl eyes New England after lashing N.C. 2010

  • Conditions are to rapidly improve -- with flood waters and overwash receding -- as Earl continues to move north and east away from the area into this afternoon.

    Earl eyes New England after lashing N.C. 2010

  • High seas up to 25 feet are possible just offshore of the Outer Banks (10-15 feet offshore VA/MD/DE beaches) with significant ocean overwash and sound-side flooding.

    Hurricane Earl watches for VA/MD/DE beaches 2010

  • Protect natural processes of longshore drift, erosion and overwash, which maintain coastal systems.

    Northeastern coastal forests 2009

  • The Army Corps of Engineers told us that on the Industrial Canal, those pictures that you were seeing are wave overwash of the Industrial Canal.

    CNN Transcript Sep 1, 2008 2008

  • There is an occasional direct overwash from the Atlantic Ocean during major storms.

    North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve 2007

  • Water is already starting to overwash Ariola Drive road right next to the beach.

    County Dithers While Island Roads Flood Beach Blogger 2005

  • A continuous sheet of storm-generated overwash deposits is observed in this low-lying and uninhabited portion of the barrier island.

    Archive 2005-09-01 Beach Blogger 2005

  • Water is already starting to overwash Ariola Drive road right next to the beach.

    Archive 2005-08-01 Beach Blogger 2005

  • A continuous sheet of storm-generated overwash deposits is observed in this low-lying and uninhabited portion of the barrier island.

    Ivanizing the Day (Updated) Beach Blogger 2005

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