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
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
"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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This Feb. 29: 15 Words for "Leap"
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On Your Mark, Get Set, Commence Your Life!
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sometimes, even the best-laid plans can’t surmount a brick wall.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 23, 2026
When Franklin Roosevelt signed the law creating the Federal Housing Administration in 1934, the country’s political class, or most of it, assumed the government could surmount any problem.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
Neither actor really tries to surmount their 20-year age gap.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2025
That’s precisely why I forced myself to surmount my anxiety on the second day of Lollapalooza when we were slated to see the Chilis.
From Salon • Aug. 17, 2024
My eye passed all other objects to rest on those most remote, the blue peaks; it was those I longed to surmount; all within their boundary of rock and heath seemed prison-ground, exile limits.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
