(transitive) To overwhelm.Desperation engulfed her after her daughter's death.
2013 June 18, Simon Romero, "Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders," New York Times (retrieved 21 June 2013)Shaken by the biggest challenge to their authority in years, Brazil’s leaders made conciliatory gestures on Tuesday to try to defuse the protests engulfing the nation’s cities.
(transitive) To surround; to cover.Only Noah and his family survived when the Flood engulfed earth.
