| ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷ transitive verb
Etymology: over (I) + -power (from power, n.)
1. : to get the better of by superior force or power : subdue , vanquish
war overpowered, dragged out into the open — American Guide Series: Tennessee
by a margin of 15,000 votes … was overpowered by the winner — Time
2. : to affect overwhelmingly by reason of great power or intensity
when hunger overpowers him — J.G.Frazer
the odor overpowered him
his instinct for heroics overpowered him — Gerald Beaumont
3. : to supply with more power than is needed
never overpower your boat — Peter Heaton
Synonyms:
overwhelm , whelm , engulf , deluge , swamp : overpower applies to defeating or reducing to submission or ineffectiveness by vastly superior force
a sentry overpowered by the attackers
resistance overpowered in a few days
overpowered by the show of wealth around him
overwhelm may suggest submerging, overcoming, vanquishing, destroying, or overpowering in the manner of a breaking ocean wave
Scotland was overwhelmed by the ice sheets of the great Ice Age — L.D.Stamp
it was between the inner and outer shoal that disaster overwhelmed the lifeboat and her crew — G.G.Carter
his hopeless endeavor to stem the rising flood of irrationalism and slave-spirit that were soon to overwhelm the great Roman world — Norman Douglas
whelm is a close synonym for overwhelm in its dire uses
it seemed as though the entire town might go — as though the sea would whelm houses, vessels, and town together — Mary H. Vorse
this report reached his periwigged Excellency about the time that his own city was being overwhelmed by earthquake; he had little time for ancient ruins when his own was whelmed with destruction — V.W.Von Hagen
engulf suggests swallowing up as by rushing waters, or catching, burying, entangling, or covering hopelessly so that extrication is impossible
Bonnet thought that periodically the world was engulfed by a major catastrophe, the last one being the Mosaic flood — S.F.Mason
the doom of madness that had engulfed her aunt — Edith Sitwell
deluge implies a concentrated massing, as of torrential rain, that overwhelms; it is usually used figuratively
the speaker was deluged with questions
as Yellow Cabs drove up with strikebreakers they were deluged with rotten fruit from the trucks — R.M.Lovett
swamp , originally in the passive suggesting entanglement or submersion in a swamp, now is close to deluge , although it may indicate more hopeless entangling or oppressing
a sea broke over them, and would have swamped the Otter, had she not been the best of sea boats — Charles Kingsley
the work rose about him like a tide. It swamped his days — Mary Austin
the mind is swamped by the bewildering complexity of directions — R.W.Southern