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Definition of overwhelm : 1. The act of overwhelming.
2. To cause to surround, to cover.
3. 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.
4. To project or impend over threateningly.

Synonyms:

subdue, massacre, smash, bury, swim, inundate, cream, hide, pass, have the best, secrete, get the better of, overmaster, sweep over, conceal, waste, ruin, flush, cloak, annihilate, trounce, overcome, flood, wallop, drub, overpower, dissemble, deluge, smear, surmount, puzzle, disguise, cover, screen, overhaul, flood out, clobber, full, submerge, sink, vanquish, confute, shellac, veil, confound, catch up with, mask, master, swamp, break, suppress, thrash, conquer, crush, help, whelm, confuse, win, submerse, get over, engulf, steamroller, catch, inter, entomb, overflow, drown, affect, destroy, prostrate, overthrow, defeat, get the best

bewilder, amaze, impress, daze, dazzle, stun, astonish, astound, surprise

overrun, overtake, outdistance, transgress, overstep, outrun, outpace, transcend, overshoot, surpass

Usage examples:

• We are but feeble beings cast into the midst of sovereign powers which overwhelm and bear us down. - "The Pros and Cons of Vivisection", Charles Richet Commentator: W. D. Halliburton.
• The morning came, noon, then a fall of snow and a keen wind, and despair in her heart; but she had passed the danger- spots, and now, if the storm did not overwhelm her, she might get to Askatoon in time. - "Northern Lights", Gilbert Parker.
• This elevation has enabled it to advance upon and overwhelm woods, which, upon a plain, would have checked its progress, and, in one instance, a forest of many hundred acres of tall pines was destroyed by the drifts between 1804 and 1827. Control of Dunes by Man. - "The Earth as Modified by Human Action", George P. Marsh.