steamroller
1 of 2noun
steam·roll·er ˈstēm-ˌrō-lər 
1
: a steam-driven road roller
broadly : road roller
2
: a crushing force especially when ruthlessly applied to overcome opposition
steamroller
2 of 2verb
steam·roll·er ˈstēm-ˌrō-lər
variants or steamroll
ˈstēm-ˌrōl
steamrollered or steamrolled; steamrollering or steamrolling; steamrollers or steamrolls
transitive verb
1
: to overwhelm usually by greatly superior force
steamroller the opposition
2
: to bring or advance by overwhelming force or pressure
steamrollered the bill through the legislature
intransitive verb
: to move or proceed with irresistible force
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web
Connie Schultz, Washington Post, 12 Aug. 2022 In the 1950s, Phillips describes a silence falling on creative mothers, as the steamroller drive for domestic conformity threatened to crush their artistic ambitions. Joanna Scutts, The New Republic, 20 June 2022 Overall, Pennsylvania voters seemed attracted this cycle to politicians with a pugilistic approach to politics, choosing not only the confrontational Mr. Mastriano on the right, but progressive steamroller John Fetterman on the left. Kimberley A. Strassel, WSJ, 19 May 2022 Bianca Andreescu’s first Italian Open had just come to an understandable halt in the quarterfinals against Iga Swiatek, a steamroller disguised as a tennis star. New York Times, 13 May 2022 But faced with a higher degree of difficulty, the Sox have gone from steamroller to steamrollee. BostonGlobe.com, 27 Sep. 2021 The rest of last year’s Emmys featured results that were nearly but not quite as steamroller-ish, with Watchmen and Succession scooping up most of the trophies in the Limited Series and Drama categories, respectively. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 20 Sep. 2021 Don’t step in front of a steamroller to pick up a dime. Dallas News, 22 Aug. 2021 This undoubtedly cleared the way for a film like Nomadland to succeed; with no Goliaths on the field, this tiny, artsy indie could become a steamroller. Nate Jones, Vulture, 3 May 2021 Peter Rowe, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Aug. 2022 In positioning country music as, essentially, the music of the white rural working class, Nashville streamlined — make that steamrollered — the genre’s roots, and the ways it has always been engaged in wide-ranging cultural dialogue. Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2019 Others feel the tech titan is trying to steamroller residents' wishes. Andrew Selsky, USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2020 The East Coast side have won their last seven games, steamrollering opponents and are quarterbacked by the MVP-frontrunner Lamar Jackson. Ben Morse, CNN, 28 Nov. 2019 From September ’17, when the FBI made its arrests, to June ’19, when NBA offered judgment, the conference has been steamrollered by bad news, bad decisions and bad play. Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 21 June 2019 With that call and photograph as the launchpoints, the NCAA steamrollered USC. Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 13 June 2019 But in between it was a magical display, with Harry Kane scoring three times, John Stones twice and Jesse Lingard once as England steamrollered their inferior opponents. SI.com, 24 June 2018 As a result, the public is often directed to attractive, shortcut weight-loss options created for the purposes of making money, while scientists and doctors document facts that are steamrollered into the shadows. David Prologo, Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2018 See More
Noun
Who needs this steamroller of a timeline full of pluckable facts and anecdotes about what women have endured in America? Connie Schultz, Washington Post, 12 Aug. 2022 In the 1950s, Phillips describes a silence falling on creative mothers, as the steamroller drive for domestic conformity threatened to crush their artistic ambitions. Joanna Scutts, The New Republic, 20 June 2022 Overall, Pennsylvania voters seemed attracted this cycle to politicians with a pugilistic approach to politics, choosing not only the confrontational Mr. Mastriano on the right, but progressive steamroller John Fetterman on the left. Kimberley A. Strassel, WSJ, 19 May 2022 Bianca Andreescu’s first Italian Open had just come to an understandable halt in the quarterfinals against Iga Swiatek, a steamroller disguised as a tennis star. New York Times, 13 May 2022 But faced with a higher degree of difficulty, the Sox have gone from steamroller to steamrollee. BostonGlobe.com, 27 Sep. 2021 The rest of last year’s Emmys featured results that were nearly but not quite as steamroller-ish, with Watchmen and Succession scooping up most of the trophies in the Limited Series and Drama categories, respectively. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 20 Sep. 2021 Don’t step in front of a steamroller to pick up a dime. Dallas News, 22 Aug. 2021 This undoubtedly cleared the way for a film like Nomadland to succeed; with no Goliaths on the field, this tiny, artsy indie could become a steamroller. Nate Jones, Vulture, 3 May 2021 Verb
Yet enterprising brewers kept tinkering with IPAs, seeking ways to steamroller all resistance. Peter Rowe, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Aug. 2022 In positioning country music as, essentially, the music of the white rural working class, Nashville streamlined — make that steamrollered — the genre’s roots, and the ways it has always been engaged in wide-ranging cultural dialogue. Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2019 Others feel the tech titan is trying to steamroller residents' wishes. Andrew Selsky, USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2020 The East Coast side have won their last seven games, steamrollering opponents and are quarterbacked by the MVP-frontrunner Lamar Jackson. Ben Morse, CNN, 28 Nov. 2019 From September ’17, when the FBI made its arrests, to June ’19, when NBA offered judgment, the conference has been steamrollered by bad news, bad decisions and bad play. Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 21 June 2019 With that call and photograph as the launchpoints, the NCAA steamrollered USC. Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 13 June 2019 But in between it was a magical display, with Harry Kane scoring three times, John Stones twice and Jesse Lingard once as England steamrollered their inferior opponents. SI.com, 24 June 2018 As a result, the public is often directed to attractive, shortcut weight-loss options created for the purposes of making money, while scientists and doctors document facts that are steamrollered into the shadows. David Prologo, Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2018 See More Word History
First Known Use
Noun
1863, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1879, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Kids Definition
steamroller
noun
steam·roll·er ˈstēm-ˈrō-lər
: a machine that has wide heavy rollers for pressing down and smoothing roads
steamrollers
noun
as in juggernauts
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- juggernauts
- heavyweights
- hulks
- behemoths
- titans
- giants
- elephants
- leviathans
- mastodons
- dinosaurs
- giantesses
- dreadnoughts
- elephant
- mammoths
- whales
- colossi
- jumbos
- amazons
- bulks
- monsters
- blockbusters
- Goliaths
- whoppers
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- shrimp
- midgets
- shrimps
- dwarves
- pigmies
- dwarfs
- peewees
- runts
- pygmies
- mites
- weaklings
- diminutives
- lightweights
- wimps
- wisps
- whippersnappers
- half-pints
- twerps
- nonentities
- by heart
- by hook or by crook
- by inches
- by invitation only
- by itself
- by jove
- by leaps and bounds
- by letter
- by machine
- by magic
- by marriage
- by means of
- by mistake
- by mutual consent
- by necessity
- by night
- by no means
- by no stretch of the imagination
- by numbers
- by one's lonesome
- by one's own account
- by one's own admission
- by one's own bootstraps
- by one's own hand
- by oneself