engulf
/ɛŋɡʌlf/ · en.gulf
verb
- To overwhelm; to completely surround or envelop someone or something. Desperation engulfed her after her daughter's death.
- To surround; to cover something completely. Only Noah and his family survived when the Flood engulfed the world.
- To cast into a gulf; to throw or plunge someone or something into a deep, wide body of water. The ship was engulfed by the ocean during the storm.
transitive verb
- To take in or absorb something completely. The company was engulfed by the financial crisis.
Did you know? The word 'engulf' has been used in various literary works, including John Milton's 'Paradise Lost', where it is used to describe the Flood that destroyed the world.