outflow

What drains away

Outflow is the movement of something out from a source—water from a pipe, money from an account, people from a region.

The word often appears in technical or financial contexts: capital outflow, the outflow of refugees.

As a verb, to outflow is to flow out, though this use is less common than the noun.

water

stream

Steady continuous flow

creek · tributary · runoff · estuary · delta · drainage · culvert · ditch · gutter · sewer

economic

capital

Wealth used for investment

deficit · currency · exchange · liquidity · remittances · divestment · funds · transfer · balance · flight

discharge

effluent

Discharged liquid waste

release · excretion · secretion · elimination · venting · drainage · seepage · purge · expulsion · spill

emission

exhaust

Use up entirely

  • fumesAirborne chemical irritants
  • pollutantsHarmful environmental substances
  • ventOpening for airflow

carbon · methane · greenhouse · particulates · industrial · combustion · flue · chimney · smokestack · tailpipe

lake

reservoir

Large water storage basin

water level · dam · weir · outlet · evaporation · seepage · basin · depth · stratification · loch

environmental

sediment

Particles settling in liquid

ecosystem · wetland · habitat · salinity · riparian · biota · contamination · leachate · erosion · siltation

Categories
Opposites
direction of flow

outflowinflow

Arriving stream or current

influx · inrush · intake · inpouring · ingress

resource accumulation

outflowinflow

Arriving stream or current

income · influx · receipts · earnings · revenue

quantity/volume dynamic

outflowaccumulation

Collected mass over time

buildup · accretion · amassing · stockpiling · retention

Family

outflow boundary, outflows, outflowing, outflux

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G