Heavy rains and massive floods in Chennai during the first week of this month and subsequent power outages and network problems for several days did not allow me to submit my column for the 7th December edition of edex. Readers who know my whereabouts rightly guessed the reason for the non-appearance of the column in the supplement and enquired about my safety. A reader from Madurai suggested that I write a column on rain-related words. Another reader sent in a query requesting me to explain the meaning and usage of these eight words/phrases: incessant, inundate, deluge, maroon, recede, pound, dire, flood-ravaged.
The word ‘incessant’ means ‘nonstop’ or ‘continuing without interruption’. The adjective is formed by adding the prefix ‘in-‘ and the suffix ‘-ant’ to the word ‘cease’ which means ‘to stop’. Here are examples of how the word is used in sentences:
The incessant rains in Chennai last week caused massive flooding.
Incessant downpours hit train services and closure of the airport in Chennai. The word ‘inundate’ means ‘to flood’. It also means ‘to overwhelm’. The noun form is ‘inundation’. Surplus water from lakes gushed into the streets and inundated many houses.
It is not good to blame nature for inundation in Chennai. ‘Deluge’, which is both noun and verb, means ‘a great flood of water’ and ‘to flood’. It is a synonym of ‘inundate/inundation’.
Is this the first time your hometown has drowned in a deluge of water?
She was deluged with congratulatory emails.
The word ‘maroon’ means ‘to abandon with little hope of rescue or leave without aid’. It also refers to a person marooned.
Torrential rains left many residents of the rain-affected Tambaram marooned. Many volunteers risked their lives to rescue the marooned in the flood-hit area. To ‘recede’ means to ‘to cede back’ or ‘to move away from a previous position’. Here are examples of how the word is used in sentences:
Power has been restored in many parts of the city as floodwaters have receded. It is said that coastal water usually recedes before a tsunami strikes a coast. The verb ‘pound’ has many different meanings. One of the meanings is ‘to strike repeatedly with great force’.
As heavy rains pounded the city for hours, life was thrown out of gear.
As rains continue to pound many parts of Tamil Nadu, many educational institutions have been closed indefinitely.
The word ‘dire’ has these meanings: i) dreadful or terrible, ii) urgent or desperate, and iii) indicating disaster, as in the following examples:
She is in dire distress as she has lost everything. The flood-affected people are in dire need of essential things. Dire forecasts of heavy rains have made people move to a different place.
The adjective ‘flood-ravaged’ is synonymous with ‘flood-affected’ and ‘flood-hit’. Relief operations are in full swing in flood-ravaged areas.