engulf
[en-
guhlf
]
/ɛnˈgʌlf/
verb (used with object)
1.
to swallow up in or as in a
gulf
; submerge:
The overflowing river has engulfed many small towns along its banks.
2.
to plunge or immerse, as into a
gulf
:
He engulfed himself in his studies.
Also,
ingulf
.
Origin
1545-55;
en-
1
+
gulf
Related forms
engulfment,
noun
Synonyms
1.
envelop, bury, inundate, deluge, swamp.
Examples from the web for
engulf
They have developed a journal-publishing culture that threatens to
engulf
them.
The changes that are about to
engulf
the wireless industry are as technologically disruptive as was the first mobile phone itself.
Periodically, great dust storms
engulf
the entire planet.
Maybe it happened to you this morning: you entered the shower and the curtain moved in to
engulf
you.
We are ground zero of an explosion that will
engulf
all reality.
Problems that
engulf
casts of people usually have required casts of people to create.
But if a crisis does
engulf
the world, that may be a leap some are willing to make.
At that point they expand, becoming large enough to
engulf
any inner planets.
Such fusion might occur after white blood cells
engulf
tumor cells.
As our canoes float into the rocky shoal, the lilies seem to
engulf
us, the giant pale flowers reaching to our chins.
British Dictionary definitions for
engulf
engulf
/
ɪnˈɡʌlf
/
verb
(
transitive
)
1.
to immerse, plunge, bury, or swallow up
2.
(
often passive
) to overwhelm:
engulfed by debts
Derived Forms
engulfment,
noun
Word Origin and History for
engulf
v.
1550s, from
en-
(1) "make, put in" +
gulf
. Related:
Engulfed
;
engulfing
.