flood the zone

English

Pronunciation

Audio (General Australian): (file)

Verb

flood the zone (third-person singular simple present floods the zone, present participle flooding the zone, simple past and past participle flooded the zone) (usually followed by with)

(chiefly US, idiomatic, sports) To fill a relevant region of the field of play.
- 1998 November 22, Hal Bock, “Hail To Flutie And The Gang: Miracle Pass to Phelan Still Has Lasting Effect on Players”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 3 September 2018:
  The NFL renaissance of Doug Flutie is a reminder of one of the great plays in college football history. […] "The play was called 'Trips Right, Flood Tip,'" Phelan said. "That meant three receivers to the right side, flood the zone and try for the tip."
- 2017 April 17, Andy McCullough, “Dodgers taxed bullpen gives up first homer in 4-2 loss to Diamondbacks”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 3 September 2018:
  McCarthy could spot his curveball for strikes, and flooded the zone with fastballs and cutters.
- 2017 November 19, Jonah Keri, “Astros Lead Our Offseason Power Rankings”, in Sports Illustrated, retrieved 3 September 2018:
  Of the 17 Padres position players who saw the most playing time in 2017, 16 of them were 29 or younger. […] Of course, simply flooding the zone with young players doesn't guarantee anything.
(idiomatic, by extension) To provide a very large quantity (of something).
- 2008 April 17, Bryan Walsh, “How to Win the War on Global Warming”, in Time, retrieved 3 September 2018:
  While Washington should flood the zone with research funding, it should refrain from trying to pick a winner.
- 2014 July 6, Charles M. Blow, “Opinion: Ramparts Against Republicans”, in New York Times, retrieved 3 September 2018:
  Republicans believe that they have a chance of taking control of the Senate in November. […] And big-money conservatives are flooding the zone with cash to ensure victory.
- 2018 February 13, Anne Applebaum, “A Russian dissident pulls off a virtuoso trolling of the Putin regime”, in Washington Post, retrieved 3 September 2018:
  [A]s former Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon so eloquently puts it — “the real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with sh–.”