freshet

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a sudden rise or overflow of a stream caused by heavy rain or melting snow

   The spring freshet carried branches and ice down the swollen river.

2. 2
   noun

   archaic: a small stream of fresh water

   A clear freshet descended from the hillside and crossed the path.

3. 3
   noun

   figurative: a sudden, swelling influx of something

   The announcement produced a freshet of applications from across the country.

From Old French freschete, a diminutive based on fres or fresche, 'fresh.' The earliest English sense was a stream of fresh water; the word then came to denote a stream's sudden rise from rain or snowmelt, and later any figurative swelling influx.

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