abundance
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a·bun·dance
(ə-bŭn′dəns)abundance
(əˈbʌndəns) (əˈbʌndənsɪ) orabundancy
a•bun•dance
(əˈbʌn dəns)n.
Abundance
a profusion, a great plenty, an overflowing quantity. See also exuberance.Abundance
See Also: CLOSENESS; GROWTH, SPREADING
- Abound like street vendors on a spring day —Anon
- Abound like blades of grass —George Sandys
- Abundant as the light of the sun —Thomas Carlyle
- Abundant as the salt in the sea —Anon
- Abundant as air —Anon
Modern day life has added “Abundant as polluted air and water.”
- Abundant as June graduates in search of jobs —Anon
- Abundant as poverty —Anon
- Ample as the wants of man —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- As full as a fruit tree in spring blossom —Janet Flanner
The simile refers to a letter filled with good news.
- As stuffed (with idle hopes and false illusions) as any Whitsun goose crammed with bread and spices —George Garrett
- As stuffed with ideas as a quilt is with batting —Anon
- Bountiful as April rains —William Cowper
- Bountiful as the showers that fall into the Spring’s green bosom —James Shirley
- Bulging like a coin purse fallen on the ground —W. D. Snodgrass
- [Dreams] came like locusts —Isaac Bashevis Singer
- (The big racket money) comes in like water from a pipe in your bathroom, a steady stream that never stops flowing —Raymond Chandler
- Ladled out fines like soup to breadline beggars —Bernard Malamud
In Malamud’s novel, The Natural, the simile refers to fines issued by a baseball coach to rule-breaking players.
- Lush as a Flemish oil painting —Anon
- Numerous as a bank or trust company’s vice-presidents —New York Tribune, January 6, 1921
With the lean-and-mean management style in vogue since the mid-eighties, this long enduring simile may well be headed for obsolescence.
- (Children appearing here and there … ) numerous as fireflies —Alice McDermott
- Overdo … like a host who stuffs his guests with too many hors d’oeuvres —Tom Shales, Public Radio, January 10, 1986
The simile referred to the directorial touches used in a movie, The Color Purple.
- Plentiful as blackberries —William Shakespeare
- Plentiful as New Year’s Eve predictions and resolutions —Elyse Sommer
- Plentiful as oak leaves, as plentiful as the fireflies that covered the lawn at evening —Ellen Gilchrist
- Plentiful as tabby cats —W. S. Gilbert
- Stuffed like a Strasbourg goose —Anon
Strasbourg geese are over-fed and under-exercised in order to obtain the largest possible liver for making pté. Being stuffed like a Strasbourg goose is linked to any kind of excess.
- They’re like plums on a tree —H. E. Bates
Bates compared the abundance of plums on a tree to an abundance of admirers.
- Thick as autumnal leaves —John Milton
- Thick as fleas —American colloquialism, attributed to New England
Some variations from the American South: “Thick as fleas on a fat pup,” or “Thick as flies on flypaper”.
- Thick as hail —William Shakespeare
- (You have fallen into ripeness) thick as honey —Marge Piercy
- Thick as Japanese beetles —Herman Wouk
Wouk’s simile from Inside, Outside refers to the behavior of people working for the president of the United States.
- (Eyelashes) thick as June grass —Elizabeth Spencer
- Thick as summer stars —William Blake
- Thick as buttercups in June —Henry James
- Thick as … freckles —George Garrett
In his novel, Death of the Fox, Garrett refers specifically to the freckles of Sir Francis Drake.
- Thick as the green leaves of a garden —Henry James
Abundance
hand over fist See PACE.
happy hunting ground See PARADISE.
land of milk and honey See PARADISE.
loaves and fishes See MONEY.
my cup runneth over Any state of abundance, profusion, or excess; a run of luck or good fortune. This phrase from the well-known Twenty-third psalm (“The Lord is my shepherd”) is now commonly used in a secular sense, though in a secular sense, though in its original context it referred to the plentitude of God’s goodness and spiritual gifts.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou hast anointed my head with oil;
My cup runneth over
Surely goodnees and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalms 23:5-6)
spring up like mushrooms To proliferate; to appear in great quantity all at once. Mushrooms, a type of fungus, grow rapidly and abundantly following the slightest rainfall.
Noun | 1. | abundance - the property of a more than adequate quantity or supply; "an age of abundance" quantity - an adequate or large amount; "he had a quantity of ammunition" plenitude, plenteousness, plentifulness, plentitude, plenty - a full supply; "there was plenty of food for everyone" profuseness, profusion, richness, cornucopia - the property of being extremely abundant; "the profusion of detail"; "the idiomatic richness of English" wealth - the quality of profuse abundance; "she has a wealth of talent" lushness, luxuriance, voluptuousness - the property of being lush and abundant and a pleasure to the senses overmuch, overmuchness, superabundance, overabundance - a quantity that is more than what is appropriate; "four-year-olds have an overabundance of energy"; "we received an inundation of email" scarceness, scarcity - a small and inadequate amount |
2. | abundance - (physics) the ratio of the number of atoms of a specific isotope of an element to the total number of isotopes present natural philosophy, physics - the science of matter and energy and their interactions; "his favorite subject was physics" ratio - the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient) | |
3. | abundance - (chemistry) the ratio of the total mass of an element in the earth's crust to the total mass of the earth's crust; expressed as a percentage or in parts per million chemical science, chemistry - the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions ratio - the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient) |
abundance
plenty need, lack, shortage, deficiency, scarcity, dearth, paucity, sparseness, scantiness
abundance
nounabundance
[əˈbʌndəns] N → abundancia fin abundance → en abundancia, en cantidad, en grandes cantidades
we have a great abundance of plums → tenemos ciruelas en abundancia
we had an abundance of rain → llovió copiosamente
abundance
[əˈbʌndəns] n → abondance fan abundance of sth → une abondance de qch
in abundance → en abondance, à profusion
to have sth in abundance → avoir qch en abondance