overwhelm
[oh-ver-hwelm, -welm]
- to overcome completely in mind or feeling: overwhelmed by remorse.
- to overpower or overcome, especially with superior forces; destroy; crush: Roman troops were overwhelmed by barbarians.
- to cover or bury beneath a mass of something, as floodwaters, debris, or an avalanche; submerge: Lava from erupting Vesuvius overwhelmed the city of Pompeii.
- to load, heap, treat, or address with an overpowering or excessive amount of anything: a child overwhelmed with presents; to overwhelm someone with questions.
- to overthrow.
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Origin of overwhelm
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for overwhelm
Contemporary Examples
He used his strength to overwhelm defenders but he also had nifty footwork, soft hands, and was a beautiful passer.
Everywhere around you and inside you are possibilities you must always keep open, yet never let overwhelm you.
Like all barbiturates, it can overwhelm alertness to the point of stopping the urge to breathe.
On the negative side, the sheer tonnage of opinions can overwhelm and cause a degree of amnesia.
You reach a point where your frustrations just overwhelm and things have to change.
Historical Examples
As for Garson, once again the surge of feeling threatened to overwhelm his self-control.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
His intention was not to overwhelm his wife with bitter reproaches.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
Powerful tribes, like the Romans, Saxons and Normans, have tried to overwhelm them.
Welsh Fairy TalesWilliam Elliott Griffis
We should indeed survey and prepare for danger, but we should never suffer it to overwhelm us.
ImogenWilliam Godwin
The mud of those greasy streets had risen up all around to overwhelm him!
The Fat and the ThinEmile Zola
overwhelm
- to overpower the thoughts, emotions, or senses of
- to overcome with irresistible force
- to overcome, as with a profusion or concentration of something
- to cover over or bury completely
- to weigh or rest upon overpoweringly
- archaic to overturn
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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 overwhelm
v.
early 14c., "to turn upside down, to overthrow," from over- + Middle English whelmen "to turn upside down" (see whelm). Meaning "to submerge completely" is mid-15c. Perhaps the connecting notion is a boat, etc., washed over, and overset, by a big wave. Figurative sense of "to bring to ruin" is attested from 1520s. Related: Overwhelmed; overwhelming; overwhelmingly.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper