engulf

Definition

To overwhelm.

Etymology

From en- + gulf.

Example Sentences

• "Depression engulfed her after her daughter's death."
• "Shaken by the biggest challenge to their authority in years, Brazil’s leaders made conciliatory gestures on Tuesday to try to defuse the protests engulfing the nation’s cities."
• "The blank spaces of Mallarmé, the silence of Maesterlinck, the inaniloquous repetitive babblings of Gertrude Stein are the abyss which threatens to engulf creative effort if it continues in this direction."