conquer

American  

[kong-ker] / ˈkɒŋ kər /

verb (used with object)

1. to acquire by force of arms; win in war.

   to conquer a foreign land.

2. to overcome by force; subdue.

   to conquer an enemy.

   Synonyms:

   subjugate, overthrow, overpower, vanquish

3. to gain, win, or obtain by effort, personal appeal, etc..

   conquer the hearts of his audience.

4. to gain a victory over; surmount; master; overcome.

   to conquer disease and poverty; to conquer one's fear.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to be victorious; make conquests; gain the victory.

   Despite their differences, their love will conquer.

conquer British  

/ ˈkɒŋkə /

verb

1. to overcome (an enemy, army, etc); defeat

2. to overcome (an obstacle, feeling, desire, etc); surmount

3. (tr) to gain possession or control of by or as if by force or war; win

4. (tr) to gain the love, sympathy, etc, of (someone) by seduction or force of personality

---

conquer Idioms  

1. see divide and conquer.

---

Related Words

See defeat.

Other Word Forms

• conquerable adjective
• conquerableness noun
• conquering adjective
• conqueringly adverb
• conqueror noun
• half-conquered adjective
• preconquer verb (used with object)
• reconquer verb (used with object)
• unconquerable adjective
• unconquered adjective

Etymology

Origin of conquer

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English conqueren, from Anglo-French conquerir, Old French conquerre, from Vulgar Latin conquērere (unrecorded) “to acquire,” from Latin conquīrere “to seek out”; con-, query

Example Sentences

Rachel managed to deceive and conquer throughout the game with her right-hand man, fellow traitor and fellow winner Stephen, who was someone she trusted from the start.

From BBC

To see if localized heat can conquer the chill, I, along with my family, tried heated mattress pads and blankets at home.

From The Wall Street Journal

"He conquered the world with his refinement... and he enhanced Italy, because he brought Italy to the world. The greatest people wore Valentino," he told AFP.

From Barron's

You’d probably have to remove a limb or two from Brad Pitt’s Sonny Hayes to make it look like anyone but Brad Pitt has a chance to be the conquering hero here.

From The Wall Street Journal

Payments hasn’t been really conquered yet in crypto, but behind the scenes, it is emerging and he foresees it being bigger in the future, he says on the panel.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• crush
• overthrow
• quell
• rout
• subdue
• subjugate
• surmount
• vanquish