engulf

[ en-guhlf ]

verb (used with object)

1. to swallow up in or as in a gulf; submerge:

   The overflowing river has engulfed many small towns along its banks.

   Synonyms: swamp, deluge, inundate, bury, envelop

2. to plunge or immerse, as into a gulf:

   He engulfed himself in his studies.

engulf

/ ɪnˈɡʌlf /

verb

1. to immerse, plunge, bury, or swallow up
2. often passive to overwhelm

   engulfed by debts

Derived Forms

• enˈgulfment, noun

Other Words From

• en·gulfment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of engulf¹

First recorded in 1545–55; en- ¹ + gulf

Example Sentences

I guess if the pandemic just gets so out of control that it engulfs the whole country again, then that could bring it to a halt.

From Freakonomics

His family’s apartment was destroyed in the early-1990s civil war that engulfed the nation.

From Ozy

If you don’t create, update, and optimize your content, you’ll fall behind and get engulfed by your competition.

From Search Engine Watch

The ongoing collaboration between Sims and Berni with the genetically modified Drosophila larvae emerged from the next debate that engulfed the field, which concerned whether Lévy walks are adaptive, intrinsic traits.

From Quanta Magazine

Amoebas engulf a bit of prey by surrounding it with their pseudopodia.

From Science News For Students

Other schools have been shuttered because of attacks and threats stemming from the war that continues to engulf the country.

From The Daily Beast

Suddenly, the screen cuts to FLAMES which engulf the word "COWARDS?!?"

From The Daily Beast

Using ethnicity for political ends is a dangerous game that will engulf South Sudan if not contained.

From The Daily Beast

The scale of devastation is now threatening to engulf the amount of resources deployed to control the situation.

From The Daily Beast

This timing may have been a mercy, given the fate that was about to engulf Yugoslavia.

From The Daily Beast

It must be creeping around the eastern edge, and would soon engulf us.

From Project Gutenberg

If her burning fire could but be poured out upon him, and engulf the artist in her destroying waves.

From Project Gutenberg

We would then be sleeping on a volcano, such as may at any hour engulf the empire of Russia.

From Project Gutenberg

I decided to wait until she was quite close and then to engulf her with the full force of the male principle.

From Project Gutenberg

Vines threatened to engulf the circling street of sepulchers in greenery and bloom, and grass to encroach on the flower plots.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bury
• consume
• encompass
• envelop
• flood
• immerse
• inundate
• overrun
• overwhelm
• plunge
• submerge
• swamp