overcome
pronunciation
How to pronounce overcome in British English:
UK [ˌəʊvəˈkʌm]
How to pronounce overcome in American English:
US [ˌoʊvərˈkʌm]
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- Verb:
- win a victory over
- get on top of; deal with successfully
- overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli
- overcome, usually through no fault or weakness of the person that is overcome
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- Adjective:
- rendered powerless especially by an excessive amount or profusion of something
Word Origin
- 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 (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.
Example
- 1. But technology now exists to overcome those limitations .
- 2. This suggests that democracy can overcome vested financial interest .
- 3. I paused there , overcome by emotion .
- 4. How can I overcome this ?
- 5. How should these challenges be overcome ?