Dictionary entry details
• OVERWHELM (verb)
Meaning:
Overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli
Classified under:
Verbs of feeling
Synonyms:
overwhelm; sweep over; whelm; overpower; overcome; overtake
Hypernyms (to "overwhelm" is one way to...):
arouse; elicit; enkindle; evoke; fire; kindle; provoke; raise (call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses))
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "overwhelm"):
devastate (overwhelm or overpower)
clutch; get hold of; seize (affect)
kill (overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration)
benight (overtake with darkness or night)
knock out (overwhelm with admiration)
stagger (astound or overwhelm, as with shock)
lock (hold fast (in a certain state))
Sentence frame:
Something ----s somebody
Meaning:
Charge someone with too many tasks
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
flood out; deluge; overwhelm
Hypernyms (to "overwhelm" is one way to...):
burden; charge; saddle (impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody with something
Meaning:
Cover completely or make imperceptible
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
drown; submerge; overwhelm
Context examples:
I was drowned in work / The noise drowned out her speech
Hypernyms (to "overwhelm" is one way to...):
cover; spread over (form a cover over)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Meaning:
Overcome by superior force
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Synonyms:
overmaster; overpower; overwhelm
Hypernyms (to "overwhelm" is one way to...):
beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish (come out better in a competition, race, or conflict)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "overwhelm"):
steamroll; steamroller (overwhelm by using great force)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sentence example:
The fighter managed to overwhelm his opponent
