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.
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
As the show starts in the 500-seat theatre in Huddersfield, bright lights wash over the children's faces, their ears startled by the band.
From BBC • Dec. 12, 2025
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
A long time after he dozed off, I was still awake, watching the blue light of the Nature Channel wash over the stuffed trophy heads on Geryon’s walls.
From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
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.
