Think of a wave rolling over something and burying it: the water does not push the thing aside, it comes over the top and covers it completely, all at once. Whatever was standing there is now under.
From the word’s history
whelm on its own meant "to turn over, to cover completely" (as in turning a vessel upside down over something); over- intensifies it, so overwhelm is literally to cover something right over.
英文原本就有一個獨立的動詞 whelm，意思是「翻覆過來、整個蓋住」，像是把一個碗倒扣在東西上面；over- 再加強一層。所以 overwhelm 從字根看就是「整個蓋過去」，現代那種被情緒或工作淹沒的感覺，其實是同一個倒扣的動作。
Wiktionary, "overwhelm" / "whelm" (Middle English whelmen, to turn over, cover)
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原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
overwhelmverb/ˌəʊ.vəˈwɛlm/
- 1
To engulf, surge over and submerge.
- The dinghy was overwhelmed by the great wave.
- 2
To overpower, crush.
- In December 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland with overwhelming force.
- The sea overwhelmed their enemies.
- 3
To overpower emotionally.
- He was overwhelmed with guilt.
- Joy overwhelmed her when she realized that she had won a million dollars.
- 4
To cause to surround, to cover.
- I lay Turpentine all over the same: then I overwhelm a broader pipe about the first
overwhelmnoun/ˌəʊ.vəˈwɛlm/
- 1
The state or condition of being overwhelmed.
- If you beat your opponent by a margin of 5 or more, you have Overwhelmingly Succeeded. This type of success is often simply called an Overwhelm. […] An overwhelm means you've not only succeeded, but you've done something better than the average success would be.
- The fact is, that full permeation and understanding of an overwhelm or trauma makes it cease as an overwhelm or trauma.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。