Overwhelming

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Overwhelm \O`ver*whelm"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Overwhelmed}; p.
     pr. & vb. n. {Overwhelming}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. To cover over completely, as by a great wave; to overflow
        and bury beneath; to ingulf; hence, figuratively, to
        immerse and bear down; to overpower; to crush; to bury; to


        oppress, etc., overpoweringly.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The sea overwhelmed their enemies.    --Ps. lxxviii.
                                                    53.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and
              horror hath overwhelmed me.           --Ps. lv. 5.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Foul deeds will rise,
              Though all the earth o'erwhelm them.  --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Gaza yet stands; but all her sons are fallen,
              All in a moment overwhelmed and fallen. --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To project or impend over threateningly.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              His louering brows o'erwhelming his fair sight.
                                                    --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To cause to surround, to cover. --Papin.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Overwhelming \O`ver*whelm"ing\, a.
     Overpowering; irresistible. -- {O`ver*whelm"ing*ly}, adv.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  overwhelming
       adj 1: so strong as to be irresistible; "an overpowering need for
              solitude"; "the temptation to despair may become
              overwhelming"; "an overwhelming majority" [syn: {overpowering}]
       2: very intense; "politics is his consuming passion";
          "overwhelming joy" [syn: {consuming}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  132 Moby Thesaurus words for "overwhelming":
     absolute, adducible, admissible, agitating, amazing, astonishing,
     astounding, attestative, attestive, authentic, awe-inspiring,
     awesome, based on, bewildering, breathtaking, burdensome, certain,
     charged, circumstantial, cliff-hanging, conclusive, confounding,
     convincing, crushing, cumulative, damning, decisive, determinative,
     devastating, disquieting, distracting, disturbing, documentary,
     documented, electric, evidential, evidentiary, ex parte, exciting,
     exhilarating, eye-opening, eye-witness, factual, final, firsthand,
     formidable, founded on, galvanic, grounded on, heady, hearsay,
     heart-expanding, heart-stirring, heart-swelling, heart-thrilling,
     impenetrable, implicit, impregnable, impressive, incontestable,
     incontrovertible, indicative, indisputable, indomitable,
     inexpugnable, inflammatory, insuperable, intoxicating, invincible,
     inviolable, invulnerable, irrefutable, irresistible, jarring,
     jolting, maddening, material, mind-blowing, mind-boggling,
     monumental, moving, nuncupative, overcoming, overmastering,
     overmatching, overpowering, perturbing, piquant, presumptive,
     probative, prodigious, provocative, provoking, ravishing, reliable,
     resistless, significant, soul-stirring, spectacular,
     spirit-stirring, staggering, startling, stimulating, stimulative,
     stirring, striking, stunning, stupefying, suggestive, sure,
     surprising, suspenseful, suspensive, symptomatic, tantalizing,
     telling, thrilling, thrilly, troubling, unassailable, unbearable,
     unbeatable, unconquerable, uncontrollable, unendurable, unsettling,
     unsubduable, unsurmountable, unyielding, upsetting, valid,
     weighty