steamroll
Americanverb (used with or without object)
Etymology
Origin of steamroll
First recorded in 1910–15; by back formation
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.
"If we don't then I fear that that we will die a slow death, because it will just steamroll over us," Tiller told AFP.
From Barron's • Feb. 21, 2026
But in her novel, rather than satirize or steamroll, Shriver takes her open-armed and open-borders characters as seriously and empathetically as her anti-immigration ones.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 31, 2026
“They want removals in numbers and whatever gets in their way, ‘How do we steamroll it?
From Slate • Aug. 7, 2025
It had been a promising start from the Lions, who galloped into a commanding lead and looked as if they were going to steamroll their opponents.
From BBC • Jul. 22, 2025
“This could steamroll into something as unmanageable as Pacheco’s pig. Any fool can see that.”
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
