# overwhelm

Pronunciation: US say "oh-vur-WELM" /ˌoʊ.vɚˈʍɛlm/; UK say "oh-vuh-WELM" /ˌəʊ.vəˈwɛlm/

## Verb

1. To affect someone so strongly with emotion that they lose composure or the ability to cope.
   - Simple: To fill someone with very strong feelings so they cannot think clearly.
   - _Memories of that day overwhelm me whenever I hear the song._
   - _She was overwhelmed by gratitude when the whole town showed up._
2. To defeat and crush an opponent by overpowering them with superior force or numbers.
   - Simple: To defeat someone completely by being much stronger or having greater force.
   - _Waves of attackers overwhelm the defenders before dawn._
   - _The rebels were overwhelmed by government tanks within a day._
3. To flow over and bury something completely beneath a rising mass of water or other matter.
   - Simple: To cover something completely by flowing or surging over it.
   - _Storm surges overwhelm low-lying coastal roads every winter._
   - _The avalanche overwhelmed the cabin, burying it under tons of snow._
5. To cover something over completely, or to bury it beneath a surrounding mass.
   - Simple: To cover something all over, or to pile things around it heavily.
   - _Ivy will overwhelm the brick wall if left untrimmed._
   - _Drifting snow overwhelmed the fence posts overnight._

## Noun

4. The state of being mentally or emotionally swamped by more than one can manage.
   - Simple: The feeling of having too much to deal with all at once.
   - _Constant notifications can tip workers into a state of overwhelm._
   - _She described the overwhelm of caring for two newborns at once._

## Origin

Inherited from Middle English overwhelmen, formed from over- combined with whelm.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/overwhelm (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).