engulf

[en-guhlf]

verb (used with object)

to swallow up in or as in a gulf; submerge: The overflowing river has engulfed many small towns along its banks.
to plunge or immerse, as into a gulf: He engulfed himself in his studies.

Also ingulf.

Origin of engulf

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

Related formsen·gulf·ment, noun

Synonyms for engulf

1. envelop, bury, inundate, deluge, swamp.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for engulfing

plunge, inundate, consume, flood, overwhelm, envelop, swamp, submerge, encompass, bury, overrun, immerse, deluge, imbibe, engross, drown, overflow, whelm

Examples from the Web for engulfing

Contemporary Examples of engulfing

This sad drama has been compounded by an engulfing fog of speculation, frequently reaching a tone of hysteria.
The Baseless Rush to Blame the Pilots of Flight 370
Clive Irving
March 16, 2014
A sprint from the alley to the east into the greenbelt and the engulfing woods.
The Man Oswald First Tried to Kill Before JFK
Bill Minutaglio, Steven L. Davis
October 3, 2013
One came close, as the wind suddenly shifted, to engulfing an Arab house.
Violence is the New Normal in Abu Tor
Rabbi Daniel Landes
July 24, 2013
Kremlin-approved media coverage of Moscow's subway bombings is engulfing the city in paranoia.
Russia's Terror Panic Attack
Michael Idov
April 3, 2010
The culture of tabs and paps was as nothing compared to the engulfing negative zone it has become.
Inside Studio 54's Wildest Nights
Anthony Haden-Guest
December 13, 2009

Historical Examples of engulfing

On the verandah the gliding figures were engulfing Franklin; he had fallen.
The World Beyond
Raymond King Cummings
The impulse returned to flee, to vanish in the engulfing wild of the mountains.
Mountain Blood
Joseph Hergesheimer
The seas were engulfing the ship so that the officers could not see the waterspout at all.
The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service
Frank Gee Patchin
Then it was that Eppie had been swept away by the engulfing relative.
The Shadow of Life
Anne Douglas Sedgwick
His pupils dilated in the attempt to pierce the engulfing darkness.
A Family of Noblemen
Mikhal Saltykov

British Dictionary definitions for engulfing

engulf

ingulf

verb (tr)

to immerse, plunge, bury, or swallow up
(often passive) to overwhelmengulfed by debts

Derived Formsengulfment, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for engulfing

engulf

1550s, from en- (1) "make, put in" + gulf. Related: Engulfed; engulfing.