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In the page of 'overpower' in encyclopedia.com, there's such a sentence as follows.

They were overpowered by the fumes.

The explanation of 'overpower' in that sentence given by encyclopedia.com is

be too intense for; overwhelm.

However, I don't quite get what that sentence exactly means. I wonder if the people in that sentence passed out due to the fumes or their actions were restricted by the fumes, or something else.

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    Without context, I could imagine people passing out, being unable to enter a space because of the smell, being unable to enter a space because the fumes caused pain or injury, etc.
    – gotube ♦
    Commented Dec 8, 2022 at 13:36
  • The definition appears good. Do you understand what "intense" and "overwhelm" mean? If not, have you looked up those words?
    – MarcInManhattan
    Commented Dec 8, 2022 at 19:53

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Your example would need context to know exactly what it meant, but overcome, overwhelm, overpower etc all carry roughly the same meaning which is that something had a particular potency or power that beat something or someone else.

To give you an idea of the range of meanings in different contexts - an 'overpowering smell' could just be an unpleasant assault on the senses that prevents you from smelling anything else, but to say a person was 'overcome by fumes' could mean that they asphyxiated.

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