▪ I. overˈwhelm, n. rare.
[f. next.]
The act of overwhelming, or fact of being overwhelmed.
| 1742 Young Nt. Th. ix. 685 In such an overwhelm Of wonderful, on man's astonish'd sight, Rushes Omnipotence. 1863 Mrs. Whitney Faith Gartney xxxiv. (1869) 318 The first overwhelm of astonishment. |
▪ II. overwhelm, v.
(əʊvəˈhwɛlm)
Also 5 -qwelm, 6 -quelm, 6–7 Sc. -quhelm.
[f. over- 6, 8 + whelm v. to roll.]
1. trans. To overturn, overthrow, upset; to turn upside down. Obs. exc. dial.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 190 He smote him in þe helm, bakward he bare his stroupe. Þe body he did ouer⁓whelm, his hede touched þe croupe. 1513 Douglas æneis vii. Prol. 18 Quhen brym blastis of the northyne art Our⁓quhelmit had Neptunus in his cart. a 1547 Surrey æneid iv. 585 Like to the aged..oke The which..the Northerne windes..Betwixt them strive to overwhelme with blastes. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ix. 344 Barkes and botes..sayling downe the riuer of Niger are greatly endangered by this sea-horse, for oftentimes he ouerwhelmeth and sinketh them. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 85 The earthquake..overwhelmed a chain of mountains of free stone more than 300 miles long. |
† b. To turn (a wheel) round, cause to revolve.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3262 A-bowte cho whirllide a whele with hir whitte hondez, Over-whelme alle qwayntely þe whele as cho scholde. |
† c. To throw (something) over in a heap upon something else; to turn or wind (something) about something else. Obs.
| 1634 Heywood Maidenhead well lost ii. Wks. 1874 IV. 120 Thou hast ouerwhelm'd vpon my aged head Mountaines of griefe. 1684 Papin in Birch Hist. Roy. Soc. (1757) IV. 288 Then I overwhelm a broader pipe about the first. |
† d. intr. To turn over, revolve; to roll or tumble over. Obs.
| 1387–8 [see overwhelming vbl. n.]. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3775 The see may never be so stil, That with a litel winde it nil Overwhelme and turne also. a 1400–50 Alexander 560 All flames þe flode as it fire were,..And þane ouer-qwelmys in a qwirre and qwatis euer e-like. |
2. trans. To cover (anything) as with something turned over and cast upon it; to bury or drown beneath a superincumbent mass; to submerge completely (usually implying ruin or destruction).
| c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 4964 Þe erthe sall' þaim ouer whelme. 1573–80 Baret Alv. O 201 To Ouerwhelme: to couer cleane ouer and ouer with earth, or other things, to hide in the ground. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 116 Adrian..dedicated another Temple to Iupiter, that former being ouer-whelmed with earth. 1756 Lucas Ess. Waters I. 32 Large tracts..are every winter over-whelmed with an inundation. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 192 Pompeii was overwhelmed by a vast accumulation of dust and ashes. |
† b. To overhang so as to cover more or less. Obs.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 183 His louring brows o'erwhelming his fair sight, Like misty vapours when they blot the sky. 1599 ― Hen. V, iii. i. 11 Then lend the Eye a terrible aspect:..let the Brow o'rewhelme it, As fearefully, as doth a galled Rocke O're-hang and iutty his confounded Base. |
3. fig. a. To overcome or overpower as regards one's action or circumstances; to bring to ruin or destruction; to crush.
| 1529 More Dyaloge i. Wks. 157/2 Certayne conclusions of the lawe of nature, whiche (their reason ouer whelmed with sensualyte) hadde than forgotten. 1573–80 Baret Alv. O 201 To be ouerwhelmed with businesse, or to haue more to do than he can turne himselfe to. 1692 tr. Sallust 29 We Starve at home, abroad our debts ore-whelm us. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 153 ¶10 Neither my modesty nor prudence were overwhelmed by affluence. 1843 Prescott Mexico (1850) I. ii. iii. 217 Such an event must overwhelm him in irretrievable ruin. |
b. To overcome completely in mind or feeling; to overpower utterly with some emotion.
| 1535 Coverdale Ps. liv. 4 An horrible drede hath ouerwhelmed me. 1721 De Foe Moll Flanders (1840) 309, I was overwhelmed with the sense of my condition. 1872 W. Black Adv. Phaeton xxxi. 410 Here a shout of laughter overwhelmed the young man. |
c. To treat with an excess of something (figured as ‘heaped’ upon one); to ‘deluge’ with.
| 1806 T. S. Surr Winter in Lond. (ed. 3) I. 255 He found him..surrounded by the whole party..who were overwhelming him with praises. 1819 Lady Morgan Autobiog. (1859) 309 The Baron Bonstetten overwhelms us with hospitality and kindness. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia xvi, He began overwhelming the old man with enquiries about himself, Pambo, and each and all of the inhabitants. |