overwhelm
pronunciation
How to pronounce overwhelm in British English:
UK [ˌəʊvəˈwelm]
How to pronounce overwhelm in American English:
US [ˌoʊvərˈwelm]
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- Verb:
- overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli
- charge someone with too many tasks
- cover completely or make imperceptible
- overcome by superior force
Word Origin
- overwhelm (v.)
- early 14c., "to turn upside down, to overthrow," from over- + Middle English whelmen "to turn upside down" (see whelm). Meaning "to submerge completely" is mid-15c. Perhaps the connecting notion is a boat, etc., washed over, and overset, by a big wave. Figurative sense of "to bring to ruin" is attested from 1520s. Related: Overwhelmed; overwhelming; overwhelmingly.
Example
- 1. Really large capital inflows and asset price bubbles overwhelm fiscal policy .
- 2. The key is to not let the hobby-as-business overwhelm you .
- 3. Some argue that if a crisis begins the ecb can overwhelm it .
- 4. The simplest rule is that positive and negative sentiments both overwhelm neutral ones .
- 5. If they took fright , they could overwhelm even china 's vast foreign-exchange reserves .