# What does ‘snowed under’ mean?

To “snowed under” means to overwhelmed, usually with work. A modern idiom; the image is of being buried by heavy snow.

## What it means

- A modern idiom; the image is of being buried by heavy snow.

## Action steps

1. Common in workplace complaints.
2. Example: I'm snowed under with paperwork this week.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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Published: 2026-07-18T04:16:35.355407+00:00
Modified: 2026-07-18T04:16:35.355407+00:00
Last verified: 2026-07-18
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