envelop

/ɛnˈvɛləp/

/ɛnˈvɛləp/

Other forms: enveloped; enveloping; envelops

When something envelops you, it wraps around you. The Snuggie Blanket is so popular because it envelops your body, leaving only your head uncovered. Sure, it looks dorky, but it keeps you extra warm.

You probably noticed that envelop looks just like the noun envelope, minus that last letter "e", and that's an easy way to help you remember its meaning, too. Picture what an envelope does — it seals a letter completely inside, or envelops it. Envelop can also be used in a symbolic way, to describe something that consumes or occupies your mind. If the pretty girl you just met starts to envelop your thoughts, your work will suffer because you can't concentrate. Envelop comes from the late 14c. word envolupen, meaning "be involved in."

Definitions of envelop

1. verb

   enclose or enfold completely with or as if with a covering
   “Fog enveloped the house”

   synonyms: enclose, enfold, enwrap, wrap

   types:

   benight

   envelop with social, intellectual, or moral darkness

   tube

   place or enclose in a tube

   capsulate, capsule, capsulise, capsulize

   enclose in a capsule

   engulf

   flow over or cover completely

   sheathe

   enclose with a sheath

   cocoon

   wrap in or as if in a cocoon, as for protection

   bathe

   suffuse with or as if with light

   cover, enshroud, hide, shroud

   cover as if with a shroud

   type of:

   cover

   provide with a covering or cause to be covered