Adjacent Words

Overwhelm definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

OVERWHELM', v.t.
1. To overspread or crush beneath something violent and weighty, that covers or encompasses the whole; as, to overwhelm with waves.
2. To immerse and bear down; in a figurative sense; as, to be overwhelmed with cares, afflictions or business.
3. To overlook gloomily.
4. To put over. [Not used.]
O'VERWHELM, n. The act of overwhelming.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli [syn: overwhelm, overpower, sweep over, whelm, overcome, overtake]
2: charge someone with too many tasks [syn: overwhelm, deluge, flood out]
3: cover completely or make imperceptible; "I was drowned in work"; "The noise drowned out her speech" [syn: submerge, drown, overwhelm]
4: overcome by superior force [syn: overpower, overmaster, overwhelm]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Etymology: Middle English, from ¹over + whelmen to turn over, cover up Date: 14th century 1. upset, overthrow 2. a. to cover over completely ; submerge b. to overcome by superior force or numbers c. to overpower in thought or feeling

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 overpower with emotion. 2 (usu. foll. by with) overpower with an excess of business etc. 3 bring to sudden ruin or destruction; crush. 4 bury or drown beneath a huge mass, submerge utterly.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Overwhelm O"ver*whelm`, n. The act of overwhelming. [R.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(overwhelms, overwhelming, overwhelmed) 1. If you are overwhelmed by a feeling or event, it affects you very strongly, and you do not know how to deal with it. He was overwhelmed by a longing for times past... The need to talk to someone, anyone, overwhelmed her. = overpower VERB: be V-ed, V n • overwhelmed Sightseers may be a little overwhelmed by the crowds and noise. ADJ: usu v-link ADJ 2. If a group of people overwhelm a place or another group, they gain complete control or victory over them. It was clear that one massive Allied offensive would overwhelm the weakened enemy. = overpower VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Overflow, spread over and cover, swallow up, whelm, submerge, sink, drown. 2. Overbear, overpower, overcome, subdue, vanquish, conquer, defeat.

Moby Thesaurus

afflict, aggrieve, amaze, anguish, answer, answer conclusively, argue down, astonish, astound, awe, awestrike, baptize, be prodigal with, be strong, beat, beat down, bedaze, bedazzle, bend, bewilder, blank, board, boggle, bowl down, bowl over, break, break down, bring down, bring low, bring to tears, bring to terms, bulldoze, bury, cascade, cataract, clobber, confound, confuse, confute, conquer, contradict, controvert, cream, crush, cut up, daze, dazzle, defeat, defeat utterly, deluge, demolish, demoralize, deny, desolate, destroy, devastate, dip, discombobulate, dismiss, dispose of, disturb, douse, downgrade, draw tears, drown, drown out, drub, duck, dumbfound, dumbfounder, dunk, embitter, engulf, escalade, finish, flabbergast, flood, flood the market, floor, foray, grieve, humble, humiliate, immerge, immerse, inroad, inundate, invade, jam, knock over, lick, lower, make a raid, make an inroad, master, merge, nonplus, oppress, outroar, outshout, overbear, overbrim, overcome, overdose, overequip, overflow, overfurnish, overlavish, overmaster, overpower, overprovender, overprovide, overprovision, overrun, oversell, overstock, oversupply, overtax, overthrow, overturn, pack a punch, paralyze, parry, paste, perplex, petrify, plunge in water, pour out, pour over, prostrate, put to silence, quash, quell, raid, rebut, reduce, reduce to silence, refute, ruin, run over, scale, scale the walls, schmear, settle, shatter, shellac, shock, shout down, shut out, shut up, silence, sink, skunk, slop, slosh, smash all opposition, smear, smother, snow under, sorrow, souse, spill, spill out, spill over, squash, squelch, stagger, startle, steamroller, storm, strike dead, strike dumb, strike with wonder, stun, stupefy, subdue, submerge, submerse, subordinate, subvert, suppress, surprise, swamp, sweep, take aback, take by storm, thrash, torment, trample underfoot, tread underfoot, trim, tyrannize, undermine, unman, upset, weigh down, whelm, whitewash, whomp, whop, wreck