engulf

[ en-guhlf ]

/ ɛnˈgʌlf /

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See synonyms for: engulf / engulfed on Thesaurus.com

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR engulf

1 envelop, bury, inundate, deluge, swamp.

See synonyms for engulf on Thesaurus.com

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Also in·gulf

[in-guhlf] /ɪnˈgʌlf/ .

Origin of engulf

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

OTHER WORDS FROM engulf

en·gulf·ment, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use engulf in a sentence

As February draws to a close, 2020 seems to be shaping up as a typical election year, in which the political-media complex is repeatedly engulfed by raging apocalyptic dramas that the regular human public pretty much ignores.
Dave Barry’s Year in Review 2020|Dave Barry|December 27, 2020|Washington Post
Since May, Marshall said there was a notable shift in readers looking for “escapism” content after being engulfed by breaking news coverage on the pandemic for a month-and-a-half prior to that, which led to a bump in traffic.
How Vogue’s international approach to audience data helped it reach record readers|Kayleigh Barber|December 18, 2020|Digiday
At roughly 15,000 kilometers across, the entire spot could comfortably engulf Earth with room to spare.
This new image reveals a sunspot in unrivaled detail|Christopher Crockett|December 11, 2020|Science News
They are crossing the border from Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which has been engulfed in fighting and violence since early November, when Ethiopia’s government deployed troops to the region.
Ethiopia’s unfolding humanitarian crisis, explained by a top aid official|Jen Kirby|December 3, 2020|Vox

She and her colleagues don’t think that eukaryotes started with an archaeon engulfing bacteria that would become mitochondria.
Did Viruses Create the Nucleus? The Answer May Be Near.|Christie Wilcox|November 25, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Continually under them the footing shifted; sullen logs menaced them with crushing or complete engulfment in their grinding mill.
The Rules of the Game|Stewart Edward White
Beyond, the opaqueness was massive; to penetrate thither seemed horrible, an entrance into it appeared like an engulfment.
Les Misrables|Victor Hugo
This engulfment is the sepulchre which assumes a tide, and which mounts from the depths of the earth towards a living man.
Les Misrables|Victor Hugo
Should he impose his galleys on those two dazzling children, or should he consummate his irremediable engulfment by himself?
Les Misrables|Victor Hugo
And for this immense engulfment, this supreme victory of life over death, what was needed?
Napoleon the Little|Victor Hugo

British Dictionary definitions for engulf

engulf

ingulf

/ (ɪnˈɡʌlf) /

verb (tr)

to immerse, plunge, bury, or swallow up

(often passive) to overwhelmengulfed by debts

Derived forms of engulf

engulfment, 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

engulf

OTHER WORDS FOR engulf

Origin of engulf

OTHER WORDS FROM engulf

Words related to engulf

How to use engulf in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for engulf

ingulf

Derived forms of engulf