submerge

verb

sub·​merge səb-ˈmərj 

submerged; submerging

transitive verb

1

: to put under water

2

: to cover or overflow with water

3

: to make obscure or subordinate : suppress

personal lives submerged by professional responsibilities

intransitive verb

: to go under water

submergence

səb-ˈmər-jən(t)s 

noun

submergible

səb-ˈmər-jə-bəl 

adjective

Synonyms

• deluge
• drown
• engulf
• flood
• gulf
• inundate
• overflow
• overwhelm
• submerse
• swamp

Examples of submerge in a Sentence

After boiling the broccoli, submerge it in ice water to stop the cooking process.

The town was submerged by the flood.

We watched as the divers prepared to submerge.

She's a marvelous actress who submerges herself totally in her roles.

Recent Examples on the Web

City officials were dealing with the aftermath on Tuesday of a major water main break in the Bronx that submerged cars and forced roads to close Monday night. —Isabella Kwai, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2024

According to photographs from the scene, the black Jeep Wrangler was fully submerged before heavy equipment was able to pull the vehicle from the water. —Anna Lazarus Caplan, People.com, 16 Dec. 2024

Quick bouts of rain temporarily flooded some roadways and underpasses in the Bay Area, submerging cars in one low-lying street in Livermore. —Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2024

Parts of Florida's southwestern coast could be totally submerged, including the Everglades National Park, which spans over 1.5 million acres and is home to hundreds of species of birds, mammals and reptiles. —Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin submergere, from sub- + mergere to plunge — more at merge

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

submerge

verb

sub·​merge səb-ˈmərj 

submerged; submerging

1

: to put or go underwater

the whale submerged

2

: to cover or become covered with or as if with water

floods submerged the town