Today we're studying a confusing English word: 'overwhelm'. This is a very over-used word, so the most important thing to understand is that as long as you're using it to describe something that's 'too much', you're probably using it correctly.

First of all, the website I suggested was called YouGlish. It's really handy for seeing how words are used naturally. https://youglish.com/

As I mentioned I had two sets of definitions for 'Overwhelm' in this class the first from Cambridge English (which is a little more thorough) and covers the British and American uses. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/overwhelm And

Dictionary.comhttps://www.dictionary.com/browse/overwhelm

So the definitions I had were:

1. to bury or drown beneath a huge mass of something (often water)
2. to defeat someone or something by force
3. to have a strong emotional effect on
4. to cause someone to feel a sudden strong emotion
5. to be too much to deal with

As you can see, in general, the definition is 'too much' of something.

Example Sentences

The port was overwhelmed by the tidal wave.

Definition 1, literally drowning.

The rebellion was overwhelmed by the Empire.

Definition 2, too much force and power.

The battle was overwhelming for the troops.

Could be definition 3, could be 5. We need the rest of the context.

The grief was overwhelming.

Definition 3.

He felt overwhelmed by grief/with grief.

Definition 4.

He felt overwhelming grief.

Definition 5

He felt overwhelm.

Definition 5. American.

I hope that's helpful. I doubt it's cleared anything up much, but hopefully you can see how widely 'overwhelm' is used and can now identify some of the definitions in action.