surmount
Americanverb (used with object)
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to mount upon; get on the top of; mount upon and cross over.
to surmount a hill.
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to get over or across (barriers, obstacles, etc.).
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to prevail over.
to surmount tremendous difficulties.
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to be on top of or above.
a statue surmounting a pillar.
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to furnish with something placed on top or above.
to surmount a tower with a spire.
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Obsolete.
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to surpass in excellence.
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to exceed in amount.
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verb
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to prevail over; overcome
to surmount tremendous difficulties
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to ascend and cross to the opposite side of
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to lie on top of or rise above
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to put something on top of or above
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obsolete to surpass or exceed
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has surmountedperfect 3rd person singular
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have surmountedperfect
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is surmountingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been surmountingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are surmountingprogressive
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have been surmountingperfect progressive
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surmountingparticiple
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am surmountingprogressive 1st person singular
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surmountssingular 3rd person
Past
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had surmountedperfect
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were surmountingprogressive plural
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surmountedsimple
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was surmountingprogressive singular
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surmountedparticiple
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had been surmountingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of surmount
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Anglo-French sormonter, surmounter, Old French sor(e)monter, s(o)urmonter; see sur- 1, mount 1
Explanation
If you surmount a challenge or difficult situation, you're not just getting over it. You're outdoing yourself, exceeding expectations, and overcoming the task at hand. This word comes to us from the Old French verb for mount, or climb. Maria sang "climb every mountain..." in The Sound of Music. But she could have just as well meant "surmount every obstacle" — because to surmount means to both reach the highest point of something, like a mountain, and to totally overcome a mountain-size problem.
Vocabulary lists containing surmount
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
