envelop
Americanverb (used with object)
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to wrap up in or as in a covering.
The long cloak she was wearing enveloped her completely.
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to serve as a wrapping or covering for, as a membrane of an organ or a sheath.
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to surround entirely.
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Military. to attack (an enemy's flank).
noun
verb
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to wrap or enclose in or as if in a covering
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to conceal or obscure, as from sight or understanding
a plan enveloped in mystery
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to surround or partially surround (an enemy force)
Other Word Forms
- enveloper noun
- envelopment noun
- preenvelop verb (used with object)
- unenveloped adjective
Etymology
Origin of envelop
1350–1400; Middle English envolupen < Old French envoluper, equivalent to en- en- 1 + voloper to envelop, of obscure origin; compare Old Provençal ( en ) volopar, Italian inviluppare to envelop, Italian viluppo tuft, bundle, confusion, referred to Medieval Latin faluppa chaff, wisp of straw, perhaps influenced by the descendants of Latin volvere to roll
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Their voices soared, cracked with grief, enveloping those gathered in a wave of pure emotion.
From BBC
This is hardly the first scandal to envelop a major college team, of course.
The harvest of that change was an inaugural meeting of the new panel that was enveloped in a miasma of confused, uninformed debate.
From Los Angeles Times
But in his own groups he is the rare drummer whose music draws you in with its subtlety rather than enveloping you with its power.
She yells, but another stream of water melts from the vents and envelops both her and Woo.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
