engulf

verb

in-ˈgəlf How to pronounce engulf (audio)
Definition of engulfnext
as in to flood
to cover with a flood high waves from the hurricane engulfed large areas of the coastal community

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of engulf The timing of her return surely coincides with the circumstances surrounding her near death and the grim mysteries that have engulfed the slow horses. — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026 Milestones evoking 2007 tend to make investors squeamish, conjuring up unpleasant memories of the financial crisis that engulfed global markets in 2008. — Fred Imbert, CNBC, 22 Sep. 2026 The mines are among thousands of small-scale and informal mines scattered across Sudan, which has been engulfed in a war that has at times pushed parts of the country into famine. — ABC News, 20 Sep. 2026 In 1948 de Kooning was a decade into her relationship with her husband, Willem de Kooning, and at the center of a cyclone of making and talking and looking that engulfed New York artists of the 1930s and 1940s, from Arshile Gorky to Franz Kline. — Jarrett Earnest, The New York Review of Books, 19 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for engulf
Recent Examples of Synonyms for engulf
  1. flood
  2. overwhelm
  3. drown
  4. submerge
Verb
  • The greatest concern is high tide through Sunday morning and swells from the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel could create dangerous conditions with beach erosion and seawater once again flooding beach roads and paths.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026
  • The urgency around courting nonaligned voters has been on display at recent debates, in ads flooding the airwaves and in the campaign money pouring into key states.
    — Justine McDaniel, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of flood
Verb
  • Bettany is by turns hilariously perplexed, in the universal manner of parents engaging with teens everywhere, and achingly tender, in the more unusual way of a robot letting himself be overwhelmed by feeling for the first time.
    — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Clashes last week between armed groups from rival communities in the central part of South Sudan left scores of people dead and overwhelmed a hospital with wounded people, officials said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of overwhelm
Verb
  • Family members believe Jilani drowned after becoming trapped in powerful water currents.
    — Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Threats also remain from strong rip currents and large waves, which increase the risk of ocean drowning and could threaten to capsize small boats near shore.
    — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of drown
Verb
  • But the real fix is still months away, when the city finishes the longtime West Avenue drainage project that will redirect that water that submerged her garage into city pumps and pipes instead.
    — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Police in Falmouth, Massachusetts, say criminal charges are expected against a Florida man after an SUV was found partially submerged at a beach during the nor'easter.
    — Neal Riley, CBS News, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of submerge

Browse Nearby Words

engrossment
engulf
engulfed
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Engulf.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/engulf. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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