flood the zone

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)

1. (US, idiomatic, usually) To fill a relevant region of the field of play.
   • flood the zone with defense
   • 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."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, archived from the original on 24 Jan 2025, retrieved 03...
2. (broadly, idiomatic, usually) To provide or supply a very large quantity (of something).
   • flood the zone with initiatives
   • flood the zone with funding
   1. (broadly, idiomatic, usually) To inundate something or someone (especially an information space and the people using it), especially with undesirable things (such as disinformation or noise).
      • They're not trying to keep you well informed, nor to balance both sides — they're flooding the zone.
      • [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–.”2018 February 13, Anne Applebaum, “A Russian dissident pulls off a virtuoso trolling of the Putin regime”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2018, retrieved 03 Sep 2018
3. (usually) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see flood, the, zone.
   • Mr. Magoon. It would not flood the Zone, but my understanding is that it would flood about 120 square miles.1907, Charles E. Magoon, Hearings Before the Committee on Interoceanic Canals of the United States Senate, In the Matter of the Senate Resolution adopted January 9, 1906, providing for an...
   • Potential fire zones through which no air flows do not require equal agent distribution, but do require sufficient agent to flood the zone.1944 February 1, “Fire protection for aircraft powerplants”, in Aero Digest, volume 44, number 2, retrieved 30 Aug 2025, page 224