A heavy machine with a large cylinder that flattens roads or surfaces, or metaphorically, an unstoppable force that crushes all opposition.
Compound of 'steam' and 'roller,' first used in the 1800s when steam-powered machinery revolutionized road construction and became symbols of industrial power.
Victorian engineers invented the steamroller, but politicians borrowed the word to describe their tactics—'steamrolling' an opponent became a favorite political move by the 1900s!
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