engulf
verb
Simple meaning
To surround; to cover.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnguhlfSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnˈɡʌlf
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
To surround; to cover.
“Only Noah and his family survived when the Flood engulfed the world.”
To overwhelm.
“Desperation engulfed her after her daughter's death.”
To cast into a gulf.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
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More ways to use engulf
- “The bright light engulfed him completely.”verb
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API (CC BY-SA 3.0). Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.