Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
OVERWHELM
overwhelm, deluge, flood out
(verb) charge someone with too many tasks
overpower, overmaster, overwhelm
(verb) overcome by superior force
submerge, drown, overwhelm
(verb) cover completely or make imperceptible; “I was drowned in work”; “The noise drowned out her speech”
overwhelm, overpower, sweep over, whelm, overcome, overtake
(verb) overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
overwhelm (third-person singular simple present overwhelms, present participle overwhelming, simple past and past participle overwhelmed)
To engulf, surge over and submerge.
Synonym: swamp
To overpower, crush.
To overpower emotionally.
To cause to surround, to cover.
Antonyms
• underwhelm
Noun
overwhelm (plural overwhelms)
The state or condition of being overwhelmed.
Source: Wiktionary
O`ver*whelm", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Overwhelmed; p. pr. & vb. n. Overwhelming.]
1. To cover over completely, as by a great wave; to overflow and bury beneath; to ingulf; hence, figuratively, to immerse and bear down; to overpower; to crush; to bury; to oppress, etc., overpoweringly. The sea overwhelmed their enemies. Ps. lxxviii. 53. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. Ps. lv. 5. Foul deeds will rise, Though all the earth o'erwhelm them. Shak. Gaza yet stands; but all her sons are fallen, All in a moment overwhelmed and fallen. Milton.
2. To project or impend over threateningly. His louering brows o'erwhelming his fair sight. Shak.
3. To cause to surround, to cover. Papin.
O"ver*whelm`
Definition: , n. The act of overwhelming. [R.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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(noun) infestation with slender threadlike roundworms (filaria) deposited under the skin by the bite of black fleas; when the eyes are involved it can result in blindness; common in Africa and tropical America
Coffee Trivia
