engulf

verb en·gulf \ in-ˈgəlf , en- \

Updated on: 14 May 2018

Definition of engulf

transitive verb

1 : to flow over and enclose : overwhelm

the mounting seas threatened to engulf the island

2 : to take in (food) by or as if by flowing over and enclosing

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engulfment

play \in-ˈgəlf-mənt, en-\ noun

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Examples of engulf in a Sentence

The valley was engulfed in a thick fog.
high waves from the hurricane engulfed large areas of the coastal community

Recent Examples of engulf from the Web

In what will be likely end up being seen as a masterclass in crisis management, Johnson took prompt action as a video of the incident went viral and threatened to engulf Starbucks in a major controversy.

— phil wahba, Fortune, "Starbucks Sees No Impact on Sales From Philadelphia Arrests Aftermath," 27 Apr. 2018
The well-boned, 15th-century manor house seemed likely to be engulfed by the untamed Technicolor tapestry of a garden.

— amy merrick, WSJ, "5 Lessons From the Punk Rockers of Gardening," 26 Apr. 2018
Brazil was not at home when the fire began to engulf the house close to 1 a.m. Thursday, filling the night sky above the water of McCoy Branch Cove with sickly light.

— eric adler, max londberg and matt campbell, kansascity, "Ozarks mother watches home burn with her four children inside. 'They were her life' | The Kansas City Star," 19 Apr. 2018
Taking a break from the privacy scandals engulfing the social media giant, Facebook's new head of content strategy outlines the company's original video plans.

— scott roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, "MIPTV: Advertising, Non-Scripted Key to Facebook's TV Strategy," 9 Apr. 2018
The killing of Brian Easley was just the first of several crises to engulf the Cobb County Police Department in the early months of Register’s tenure.

— aaron gell, Longreads, "Did Brian Easley Have to Die?," 9 Apr. 2018
Facebook on Sunday took out full-page ads in seven British newspapers and three American ones to apologize for the ongoing Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal engulfing the social network in a legal and regulatory nightmare.

— nick statt, The Verge, "Mark Zuckerberg apologizes for Facebook’s data privacy scandal in full-page newspaper ads," 25 Mar. 2018
The data privacy scandal engulfing Facebook (FB) continues to grow, with the Federal Trade Commission reportedly opening an investigation into the use of personal data from 50 million Facebook users.

— aimee picchi, CBS News, "Facebook under fire: The latest on Cambridge Analytica scandal," 20 Mar. 2018
First, despite various, non-lethal efforts to kill off the cells that contained the tattoo, the macrophages worked so fast to engulf the color that the ink remained in tact.

— refinery29.com, "Scientists Just Discovered A Huge Breakthrough For Tattoo Removal," 7 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'engulf.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.