overwhelm
One entry found for overwhelm.

Main Entry: over·whelm
Pronunciation: "O-v&r-'hwelm, -'welm
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Middle English, from 1over + whelmen to turn over, cover up
1 : UPSET, OVERTHROW
2 a : to cover over completely : SUBMERGE b : to overcome by superior force or numbers c : to overpower in thought or feeling

Verb 1. overwhelm - overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli
sweep over, whelm, overpower, overtake, overcome
devastate - overwhelm or overpower; “He was devastated by his grief when his son died”
clutch, get hold of, seize - affect; “Fear seized the prisoners”; “The patient was seized with unberable pains”; “He was seized with a dreadful disease”
arouse, elicit, evoke, provoke, enkindle, kindle, fire, raise - call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses); “arouse pity”; “raise a smile”; “evoke sympathy”
kill - overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration; “The comedian was so funny, he was killing me!”
benight - overtake with darkness or night
knock out - overwhelm with admiration; “All the guys were knocked out by her charm”
stagger - astound or overwhelm, as with shock; “She was staggered with bills after she tried to rebuild her house following the earthquake”
lock - hold fast (in a certain state); “He was locked in a laughing fit”
2. overwhelm - charge someone with too many tasks
flood out, deluge
burden, saddle, charge - impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to; “He charged her with cleaning up all the files over the weekend”
3. overwhelm - cover completely or make imperceptible; “I was drowned in work”; “The noise drowned out her speech”
drown, submerge
spread over, cover - form a cover over; “The grass covered the grave”
4. overwhelm - overcome by superior force
overmaster, overpower
beat, beat out, vanquish, trounce, crush, shell - come out better in a competition, race, or conflict; “Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship”; “We beat the competition”; “Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game”
steamroll, steamroller - overwhelm by using great force; “steamroller the opposition”

overwhelm
v 1: overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli [syn: overpower,
sweep over, whelm, overcome, overtake]
2: charge someone with too many tasks [syn: deluge, flood
out]
3: cover completely or make imperceptible; “I was drowned in
work”; “The noise drowned out her speech” [syn: submerge,
drown]
4: overcome by superior force [syn: overpower, overmaster]