surmount

[ser-mount]

See more synonyms for surmount on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to mount upon; get on the top of; mount upon and cross over: to surmount a hill.
to get over or across (barriers, obstacles, etc.).
to prevail over: to surmount tremendous difficulties.

to be on top of or above: a statue surmounting a pillar.
to furnish with something placed on top or above: to surmount a tower with a spire.
Obsolete.
1. to surpass in excellence.
2. to exceed in amount.

Origin of surmount

1325–75; Middle English surmounten < Anglo-French surmounter, Middle French. See sur-¹, mount¹

Related formssur·mount·a·ble, adjectivesur·mount·a·ble·ness, nounsur·mount·er, nounun·sur·mount·a·ble, adjectiveun·sur·mount·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for surmount

conquer, exceed, lick, surpass, subdue, crown, down, hurdle, outstrip, pass, best, better, top, overpower, leap, crest, negotiate, throw, clear, cap

Examples from the Web for surmount

Contemporary Examples of surmount

And that is why, as veterans, the onus is on us to surmount it and bridge the divide.
Divided in the Wake of Fort Hood
Thomas Gibbons-Neff
April 16, 2014

Historical Examples of surmount

Throw what obstacles in the way you please; it will surmount them all.
A Writer's Recollections (In Two Volumes), Volume I
Mrs. Humphry Ward
With this they were to surmount the stockade and gain the open.
Captain Blood
Rafael Sabatini
Then there were the high walls of custom and prejudice to surmount.
The Manxman
Hall Caine
Tell them all together, in the class, what their difficulties will be, and how they may surmount them.
The Teacher
Jacob Abbott
I had a good deal of pain to surmount myself, as to the last.
The Autobiography of Madame Guyon
Jeanne Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon

British Dictionary definitions for surmount

surmount

verb (tr)

to prevail over; overcometo surmount tremendous difficulties
to ascend and cross to the opposite side of
to lie on top of or rise above
to put something on top of or above
obsolete to surpass or exceed

Derived Formssurmountable, adjectivesurmountableness, nounsurmounter, noun

Word Origin for surmount

C14: from Old French surmonter, from sur- 1 + monter to mount 1

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 surmount

late 14c., "to rise above, go beyond," from Old French surmounter "rise above," from sur- "beyond" (see sur-) + monter "to go up" (see mount (v.)). Meaning "to prevail over, overcome" is recorded from late 14c. Related: Surmounted; surmounting.