wash over
Britishverb
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(of an emotion) to affect (a person) suddenly and profoundly
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(of an event) to have little effect on (a person)
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.
No sooner has one incident happened, another match comes along to wash over it.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Readers willing to let some of the technical details wash over them are rewarded with a lively picture of the contemporary frontiers of science where, the authors argue, certainty does not belong.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
Instead of revealing fine details, they tend to wash over microscopic samples.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 17, 2026
We sit on a bench and let it wash over us, wondering what ghosts of the lost generation would make of this, our Spain.
From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025
Maybe because he's older and a boy and maybe because he wasn't really on board with me coming to stay with them, I feel something wash over me when I hear the words.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
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.
