overfallt (overfal)

and a. I. n. 1. A cataract; the fall of a river; a rapid. He found many Flats in that tract of land, and many cataracts or ouerfals of water, yet such as hee was able to saile by. Hakluyt's Voyages , I. 511. 2. Naut .: ( a ) A dangerous bank or shoal lying near the surface of the sea. (b) A rippling or race in the sea, where, by the peculiarities of the bottom, the water is propelled with great force, especially when the wind and tide or cur- rent set strongly together. Admiral Smyth . A sea-boord of these Islands there are many great ouer- fals , as great streames or tides. Hakluyt's Voyages , I. 448. II. a. Overshot, as a water-wheel. It [the well] sendeth forth of it self so plentiful a stream as able to turn an over - fall mill. Sandys, Travailes, p. 99.