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overwhelm - 5 dictionary results

o⋅ver⋅whelm

  [oh-ver-hwelm, -welm]
Use overwhelm in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to overcome completely in mind or feeling: overwhelmed by remorse.
2. to overpower or overcome, esp. with superior forces; destroy; crush: Roman troops were overwhelmed by barbarians.
3. to cover or bury beneath a mass of something, as floodwaters, debris, or an avalanche; submerge: Lava from erupting Vesuvius overwhelmed the city of Pompeii.
4. to load, heap, treat, or address with an overpowering or excessive amount of anything: a child overwhelmed with presents; to overwhelm someone with questions.
5. to overthrow.
Origin:
1300–50; ME; see over-, whelm
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To overwhelm
o·ver·whelm   (ō'vər-hwělm', -wělm')   
tr.v.   o·ver·whelmed, o·ver·whelm·ing, o·ver·whelms
  1. To surge over and submerge; engulf: waves overwhelming the rocky shoreline.
    1. To defeat completely and decisively: Our team overwhelmed the visitors by 40 points.
    2. To affect deeply in mind or emotion: Despair overwhelmed me.
  3. To present with an excessive amount: They overwhelmed us with expensive gifts.
  4. To turn over; upset: The small craft was overwhelmed by the enormous waves.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Overwhelm

O`ver*whelm"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Overwhelmed; p. pr. & vb. n. Overwhelming.]

1. To cover over completely, as by a great wave; to overflow and bury beneath; to ingulf; hence, figuratively, to immerse and bear down; to overpower; to crush; to bury; to oppress, etc., overpoweringly.

The sea overwhelmed their enemies. --Ps. lxxviii. 53.

Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. --Ps. lv. 5.

Foul deeds will rise, Though all the earth o'erwhelm them. --Shak.

Gaza yet stands; but all her sons are fallen, All in a moment overwhelmed and fallen. --Milton.

2. To project or impend over threateningly.

His louering brows o'erwhelming his fair sight. --Shak.

3. To cause to surround, to cover. --Papin.

Overwhelm

O"ver*whelm`\, n. The act of overwhelming. [R.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : overwhelm
Spanish: vencer, aplastar; agobiar, abrumar,
German: überwältigen,
Japanese: 圧倒する
More Translations »

overwhelm 
c.1330, "to turn upside down, to overthrow," from over + M.E. whelmen "to turn upside down" (see whelm). Meaning "to submerge completely" is c.1450. Perhaps the connecting notion is a boat, etc., washed over, and overset, by a big wave. Fig. sense of "to bring to ruin" is attested from 1529.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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