Emily Dickinson Lexicon

O-VER-WHELM', v.t.

1. To overspread or crush beneath something violent and weighty, that covers or encompasses the whole; as, to overwhelm with waves.
2. To immerse and bear down; in a figurative sense; as, to be overwhelmed with cares, afflictions or business.
3. To overlook gloomily. Shak.
4. To put over. [Not used.]