overcome
[oh-ver-kuhm]
- to get the better of in a struggle or conflict; conquer; defeat: to overcome the enemy.
- to prevail over (opposition, a debility, temptations, etc.); surmount: to overcome one's weaknesses.
- to overpower or overwhelm in body or mind, as does liquor, a drug, exertion, or emotion: I was overcome with grief.
- Archaic. to overspread or overrun.
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- to gain the victory; win; conquer: a plan to overcome by any means possible.
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Origin of overcome
Synonyms
See more synonyms for overcome on Thesaurus.com1. vanquish.
Synonym study
1. See defeat.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for overcome
Contemporary Examples
She fails to appreciate the congressional and constitutional obstacles Johnson had to overcome to win passage of the bill.
She was separated from her colleagues after they were overcome by smoke and heat and ordered to withdraw.
To overcome these impediments, at least two tour operators bring visitors into the region.
What kind of advice would you give to young women to overcome that glass ceiling?
And that suggests these attacks were such that the victims were driven to overcome the usual reluctance to file a report.
Historical Examples
He had fallen into a chair, faint and overcome, as tears came to his eyes.
The DreamEmile Zola
This computation covers only the machine's power to overcome resistance.
Flying MachinesW.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
What was the matter with her that she was less gay, and that she was so overcome by this delicious pang?
The DreamEmile Zola
What had he said, what was the word he had just pronounced, that she should be so overcome by it?
The DreamEmile Zola
She listened to him, silent, overcome with compassion, yet very happy withal.
The DreamEmile Zola
overcome
- (tr) to get the better of in a conflict
- (tr; often passive) to render incapable or powerless by laughter, sorrow, exhaustion, etche was overcome by fumes
- (tr) to surmount (obstacles, objections, etc)
- (intr) to be victorious
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for overcome
v.
Old English ofercuman "to reach, overtake," also "to conquer, prevail over," from ofer (see over) + cuman "to come" (see come (v.)). A common Germanic compound (cf. Middle Dutch overkomen, Old High German ubarqueman, German überkommen). In reference to mental or chemical force, "to overwhelm, render helpless," it is in late Old English. Meaning "to surmount" (a difficulty or obstacle) is from c.1200. The Civil Rights anthem "We Shall Overcome" was put together c.1950s from lyrics from Charles Tindley's spiritual "I'll Overcome Some Day" (1901), and melody from pre-Civil War spiritual "No More Auction Block for Me." Related: Overcame; overcoming.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper