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# steamroller

noun (a steamroller, steamrollers); verb (steamroller, steamrollers, steamrollered, steamrollering)

«steamroller» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A heavy machine with big, wide rollers that flattens roads; once powered by steam, now usually by diesel (often called a road roller). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/steamroller/#m1)
2. (verb, informal) To force something through or defeat someone easily with great power, ignoring objections. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/steamroller/#m2)
3. (noun, figurative) A force that crushes all opposition. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/steamroller/#m3)

### In the lessons

In everyday life and children's books, steamrollers flatten new roads. In news and sport, a team «steamrollered» another means beat them easily; a leader «steamrollers» a plan through means forced it without listening.

### Examples

- The steamroller flattened the new road. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/steamroller/#x1)
- The cartoon cat was squashed flat by a steamroller. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/steamroller/#x2)
- The team steamrollered their opponents 8–0. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/steamroller/#x3)
- The boss steamrollered the plan through the meeting. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/steamroller/#x4)
- Old steamrollers puff smoke at the vintage show. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/steamroller/#x5)
- We watched the steamroller go slowly back and forth. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/steamroller/#x6)

### Note

Countable; one word. Past: steamrollered (or steamrolled in the USA). A modern machine is a road roller.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «steamroller» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/steamroller/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«steamroller» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/steamroller.html) on Mova free.