OVERWHELM • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Overwhelm

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/ˌoʊvərwˈɛlm/ /ˌoʊvərhwˈɛlm/ Listen

verb

Overwhelm v. t. (past & past part. overwhelmed; pres. part. overwhelming)

To cover over completely, as by a great wave; to overflow and bury beneath; to ingulf; hence, figuratively, to immerse and bear down; to overpower; to crush; to bury; to oppress, etc., overpoweringly. "The sea overwhelmed their enemies." "Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me." "Foul deeds will rise, Though all the earth o'erwhelm them." "Gaza yet stands; but all her sons are fallen, All in a moment overwhelmed and fallen."

To project or impend over threateningly. "His louering brows o'erwhelming his fair sight."

To cause to surround, to cover.

noun

Overwhelm n. The act of overwhelming. (R.)

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Etymology of 'Overwhelm'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Overwhelm" Quotes from Famous Books

... Church; yet even he agreed with Arius in a philosophical doctrine of the unity of God which was inconsistent with a real incarnation. Even the noble work of Origen had helped to strengthen the philosophical influences which were threatening to overwhelm the definite historic revelation. Tertullian had long since warned the churches of the danger; but a greater than Tertullian was needed now to free them from their bondage to philosophy. Are we to ...

— The Arian Controversy • H. M. Gwatkin

... the spiky shell from the polished chestnut, and be reabsorbed in the growth of the grand cone-flowering tree, to stand up in the sun and wind of the years a very altar of incense. It is no wonder, I repeat, that he loved the boy, and longed to further his plans. But he was too wise to overwhelm him with a cataract of fortune instead of blessing him with the ...

— Robert Falconer • George MacDonald

... our heads, and the waves of shame and sorrow seemed fairly to overwhelm us; and while our sobs filled the little room, Mr. Ellsler rose and laid two playbooks on the table. Then, while standing there, staring into space, I heard his far, faint voice saying: "So great—so ...

— [19th Century Actor] Autobiographies • George Iles

... of night, black as a pall and yet luminous as a polished stove pipe, is only equalled by her feeling towards the Hudson which lies extended in soporific superficiality beneath the sable covering of darkness in which Her Highness has been pleased to overwhelm it. Throughout the day an eager-to-see crowd of spectators were beaten back from the picture by the ...

— The Hohenzollerns in America - With the Bolsheviks in Berlin and other impossibilities • Stephen Leacock

... than a week after sending his despatches to the council Rutherford set forth at the head of twenty-five hundred men to protect the frontiers of North Carolina and to overwhelm the foe. Leading the South Carolina army of more than eighteen hundred men, Colonel Andrew Williamson directed his attack against the lower Cherokee towns; while Colonel Samuel Jack led two hundred Georgians against the Indian ...

— The Conquest of the Old Southwest • Archibald Henderson

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