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Glite Dictionary
to steamroll through

to steamroll through

1 7.7
To get through something easily by pushing past people who are against you
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈstiːmroʊl θruː/
  • Informal
translation icon : superar fácilmente
  • The team steamrolled through the competition, winning every match by a large margin.

And then you just sit and watch that narcissist continue to steamroll through people's lives and projects and work.

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Examples

  • With sheer determination, she steamrolled through her challenges, achieving all her goals effortlessly.

  • And then you just sit and watch that narcissist continue to steamroll through people's lives and projects and work.

    DoctorRamani

  • Like he's just so I mean, he's a really good example or a very interesting one because it seems like him and his brother can just steamroll through issues.

    Chris Williamson

  • He's steamrolling through government agencies, he's running Twitter, he's running SpaceX.

  • Unlike Sly's character in that awesome movie franchise, however, the 2011 New York Giants actually steamrolled through most of the playoffs and looked like the more talented team when they knocked off the 15-3 New England Patriots in the Super Bowl to claim their second Lombardi in five seasons.

    Blog text (1)

  • The new policy steamrolled through the council, passing with overwhelming support and little resistance.

Synonyms

to sweep
vsto steamroll through
43 3.2

To win all games or contests in a competition

focuses more on simple easy dominance rather than only the victory size
to overwhelm
vsto steamroll through
42 4.0

Defeat someone or something completely using greater force

adds the sense of doing this easily and with determined effort
to steamroll
vsto steamroll through
8 6.5

Push a plan or idea through by ignoring other people's views

is similar but highlights easy domination through force or determination
to walk over
vsto steamroll through
  • Informal
7 4.2

Beat someone very easily

implies the same ease but often includes marked force or determination
to sweep through
vsto steamroll through
2 4.1

To finish something quickly and with little effort

involves easy domination but usually adds a sense of strong force
to mop up
vsto steamroll through
  • Informal
1 5.2

To defeat an opponent completely and easily

emphasizes ease and force used to dominate rather than just decisiveness
to steamroller
vsto steamroll through
  • Informal
1 7.4

To push a plan through while ignoring others' objections

matches this sense but stresses easy defeat achieved by determination
to bullrush through
vsto steamroll through
  • UK
8.9

Move quickly through a crowd while pushing people aside

uses force to dominate but is less about defeating opponents and more physical motion

Antonyms

to fail
898 1.0

Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do

struggle
466 3.2

A hard effort to do or finish something difficult

How Overwhelming

to annihilate
  • NSFW
63 7.5
to overwhelm
42 4.0
to steamroll through
  • Informal
1 7.7
defeat
275 2.5
to beat
∞ 1.4

Surface Forms

steamroll through infinitive
steamrolled through past
steamrolled through past participle
steamrolling through present participle
steamrolls through third person singular

Morphology

steamroll + through

The verb 'steamroll' already carries the sense of forcefully overwhelming or overruling, and the particle 'through' adds the sense of doing something completely or across a set. Together the meaning 'to dominate/defeat completely' is compositionally predictable, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Steamroll through comes from the heavy road machine called a steamroller, which rolls and flattens everything in its way. Because that machine crushes obstacles, to steamroll through something means to 'dominate' or 'finish' it easily.