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Engulf vs Enclose - What's the difference?

engulf | enclose |

In lang=en terms the difference between engulf and enclose

is that engulf is to surround; to cover while enclose is to hold or contain.

As verbs the difference between engulf and enclose

is that engulf is to overwhelm while enclose is to surround with a wall, fence, etc.

engulf

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To overwhelm.
    • Desperation engulfed her after her daughter's death.
  • * 2013 June 18, , " 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.
  • To surround; to cover.
    • Only Noah and his family survived when the Flood engulfed earth.

    enclose

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l)

    Verb

    (enclos)
  • To surround with a wall, fence, etc.
  • To insert into a container, usually an envelope or package.
  • To hold or contain.

    • Usage notes

    * Until about 1820, it was common to spell this word, and the derived terms encloser'' and ''enclosure'', with ''in-'' (i.e. as ''inclose'', ''incloser'', ''inclosure''). Since 1820, the forms with ''en- have predominated.[//books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=enclose%2Cinclose%2Cencloser%2Cincloser%2Cenclosure%2Cinclosure&year_start=1650&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cenclose%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cinclose%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cencloser%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cincloser%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cenclosure%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cinclosure%3B%2Cc0 Google Books Ngram Data]

    See also

    * encircle * encloser * enclosable

    References