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What is "overcome"

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overcome
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
overcome
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be overcome with emotion (=feel an emotion so strongly that you cannot behave normally)
▪ As soon as I heard that song, I was overcome with emotion.
beat/overcome/defy the odds (=succeed despite great difficulties)
▪ The baby, born sixteen weeks too early, defied the odds and is celebrating her first birthday.
conquer/overcome your fear (=stop being afraid)
▪ She managed to conquer her fear of flying.
curiosity gets the better of sb/overcomes sb (=makes you do something that you are trying not to do)
▪ Curiosity got the better of me and I opened her diary.
overcame...shyness
▪ I overcame my shyness.
overcome a disadvantage (=succeed in spite of a disadvantage)
▪ She was able to overcome the disadvantages of race and poverty.
overcome a problem
▪ We try to help families overcome housing problems.
overcome an obstacle (also surmount an obstacleformal) (= find a solution to an obstacle)
▪ We need to help young people overcome the obstacles that poverty puts in their way.
overcome barriers
▪ There are still many more barriers that need to be overcome.
overcome limitations (also transcend limitationsformal) (= do more than you would normally be able or allowed to do)
▪ Can men and women ever transcend the limitations of their roles?
overcome opposition (=deal with opposition so that it no longer exists)
▪ Nothing he said could overcome their opposition.
overcome prejudice
▪ the story of how a poor kid from the ghetto overcomes poverty and prejudice
overcome resistance (=fight and win against it)
▪ How can he overcome resistance to the idea in Congress?
overcome/clear/get over etc a hurdle (=deal successfully with a problem)
overcome/resolve difficulties (=deal with them successfully)
▪ We are confident that we can overcome these difficulties.
resolve/overcome a crisis (=deal with it so that it no longer exists)
▪ We still hope that the hostage crisis can be resolved by negotiation.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
easily
▪ They warned that commercially available encryption software would be easily overcome by intelligence services.
▪ But the gender gap is not so easily overcome.
▪ Yesterday they easily overcame Read in the Lancashire Knockout.
▪ Mosquitoes prove indeed delicate, easily overcome.
▪ Some are obviously unavoidable but others could, providing some thought and planning was implemented, be easily overcome.
▪ A poor response from Valencia was easily overcome and within the city there was much murmuring against the new ruler.
▪ Weakened by his excessively long kip, the Castle Master easily overcame him.
■ NOUN
attempt
▪ Modifications of a theory in an attempt to overcome a difficulty need not be adhoc.
▪ As a matter of fact, partnerships were developed in an attempt to overcome some of the major shortcomings of proprietorships.
▪ Kellock has since retitled its service Cashflow Finance in an attempt to overcome this barrier.
▪ His novel is a willed attempt to overcome the difficulty.
▪ This measure is an attempt to overcome the deficiency of the relative growth rates discussed above.
▪ The Emergency of 1975-77 was an attempt to overcome instability in a decisive and authoritarian manner.
▪ Under the Maccabeans they withstood the attempts of Antiochus to overcome their country and shatter their religion.
barrier
▪ Kellock has since retitled its service Cashflow Finance in an attempt to overcome this barrier.
▪ Each school had to overcome numerous barriers to reform through the collective work of all the faculty.
▪ Elephants elsewhere have been known to overcome both types of barriers that the task force was planning to erect.
▪ They also can help students overcome barriers to success, frustration, and pain, helping them grow to greater self-sufficiency.
▪ Our friendship is a triumph of overcoming every known barrier.
▪ Effective Listening Senders can overcome communication barriers by spending more time listening.
▪ The link worker can help overcome language and cultural barriers between the doctor or nurse and the patient.
▪ People who have overcome extreme barriers deserve a reward and this is the reward I want.
challenge
▪ He was able to overcome these and other challenges, but only by turning each issue into a question of confidence.
▪ Its agent has changed in its brief history and has adapted to overcome the many challenges with which it is faced.
▪ Despite a few mechanical mishaps, loyal George manages to overcome the challenge and deliver the family to Rome.
crisis
▪ It took Cuckney four years to overcome the financial crisis he encountered when he took over the Crown Agents in 1974.
▪ Only when you overcome the crisis of self-confidence can opportunity make a difference in your life.
▪ Other local gentry families were less fortunate in overcoming the crisis produced by some of their members.
difficulty
▪ Thus the practical and ethical difficulties can be overcome.
▪ Nature had to present itself as a difficulty to be overcome.
▪ There are of course formidable difficulties to be overcome.
▪ These difficulties may be overcome in a number of ways: 1.
▪ However, these difficulties were overcome by the efforts of devoted officers.
▪ It could be argued that to a large extent such fears are unfounded or else that the difficulties have been overcome.
▪ Now the difficulties were almost overcome.
▪ Although there are many personal difficulties to be overcome when attempting to withdraw from drugs, it is possible.
division
▪ He was untiring in his efforts to overcome racial divisions and gender inequalities.
▪ This involved most notably a stress on the power of economic forces to overcome existing divisions between States.
effort
▪ During an effort to overcome one of those problems - a heart defect - surgeons gave the boy a blood transfusion.
▪ He was untiring in his efforts to overcome racial divisions and gender inequalities.
▪ Some of the Act's underlying principles can support efforts to overcome suspicion between travellers and welfare authorities.
▪ In the post-war period Moscow directed much effort towards overcoming its agricultural inferiority vis-à-vis the West, especially the United States.
fear
▪ Last night's film examined a one-day course which helps people overcome their fear of flying.
▪ Boys who need to show that they can overcome their fear or that they have none.
▪ Does being brave mean being strong or overcoming our fears?
▪ She had overcome her fear of Rhayader.
▪ This kind of firm overcame that fear, Mr Muirhead said.
▪ To see clues that others have overlooked, to face danger and overcome fear.
▪ Once people overcome their fears about computers and begin to use them in telecottages, they acquire their own equipment.
▪ Most refuse to defy the cultural definition of masculinity, to overcome their fears, or to relinquish their male privilege.
hurdle
▪ The wind speed and direction, and the cloud height and type were major hurdles to be overcome each hour.
▪ This is one of two major hurdles the Cougars must overcome if they want to reach their first Rose Bowl since 1931.
▪ But once these hurdles are overcome, women soon stop harking back to their village background and comparing everything with it.
▪ By now, though, most of the technical hurdles have been overcome.
▪ I still had that hurdle to overcome.
▪ For most people, this is a great hurdle to overcome.
limitation
▪ The system only interacts with the user in order to try to overcome the complexities or limitations of its own mechanisms.
▪ Three orientations by size of the collectivity may be sufficient to overcome this limitation.
▪ The greenfly, another live-bearer, has evolved a way of overcoming even this limitation.
▪ The expectation is that special learners will adapt to overcome their limitations to the extent possible.
▪ We propose to overcome these limitations through the use of a new methodology for the assessment of connectionist networks.
▪ By grouping together, individuals overcome limitations imposed by both the physical environment and also their own biological limitations.
obstacle
▪ Selim had formidable obstacles to overcome, however, in modernising the archaic structure of the Ottoman empire.
▪ I also knew that one of the big obstacles to overcome would be the old conditioning.
▪ Sales v Credit Sales people often view the credit department as an obstacle to overcome in getting a sale.
▪ Bill Cosby once said he was doubly proud of his son because of the obstacles he had overcome.
▪ There are numerous different obstacles to be overcome on the way.
▪ But they add that Washington knows the Senate will be a difficult obstacle to overcome.
▪ Life appeared to flow along sweetly, without many surprises or obstacles to overcome.
odds
▪ A day on Crow, then, offers little in the way of drama or danger or overcoming odds.
▪ Sometimes overcoming enormous odds, mostly because of racial prejudice, black athletes changed the sporting landscape in the United States.
opposition
▪ In each they struggled with considerable success to overcome that opposition.
▪ By her patience and charity she eventually overcame opposition and became the advisor and dearest friend of the whole household.
▪ Our ancestors were somehow able to overcome all the opposition that stood in their way.
▪ But he could not overcome strong opposition from anti-abortion activists in the party.
prejudice
▪ That would be a hard battle to win, since he would have to overcome prejudice, defeatism and small-mindedness.
▪ The three-year project is designed to overcome prejudice about the construction industry and give children a realistic insight into its many occupations.
▪ Davis's struggle to overcome the racial prejudice that held him back was backed by Sinatra.
problem
▪ Each situation brought about problems for me to overcome.
▪ The communication problem can be overcome in part through the use of interpreters.
▪ The problem was overcome by the passing of the 1876 Act.
▪ Of course there are problems, but look at the past and at the problems we have already overcome.
▪ If you have been made redundant or have been unemployed for a long time you have two additional problems to overcome.
▪ We have some serious problems to overcome.
▪ And finally, I will explore some suggestions about how such problems may be overcome.
▪ My first problem was to overcome my sense of inadequacy at my own mathematical understanding.
reluctance
▪ In fact, you will probably need to overcome a certain reluctance to be recorded, whatever your location.
▪ The failure of 1874 helped to overcome radical reluctance to form centralized organizations.
▪ He says that clients must overcome their reluctance and come foreward.
▪ Whereas pity has to overcome a reluctance to be drawn into subjective awareness of another's suffering, cruelty welcomes it.
resistance
▪ At the beginning of each new paragraph she must summon her strength to overcome enormous resistances.
▪ Ideas need to be tested by their ability, in combination with events, to overcome inertia and resistance.
▪ The head alone can not overcome resistances and antagonisms which lie outside school.
▪ It was ridiculous, but somehow she had never overcome a resistance to working with children.
▪ Similarly a sense of competition will often overcome the resistance.
▪ The first two chapters describe activities which will help overcome problems such as learner resistance.
▪ Work is done by a system when the system exerts a force to overcome resistance.
▪ Handling by kidney squeeze overcame any further resistance so that it was then possible to secure the model in the Pavlov stock.
shyness
▪ As passengers overcame an initial shyness the floor had begun to fill with dancing couples, the captain among them.
▪ This time I went because my desire to spend another couple of hours with my brother overcame my shyness.
▪ Denver overcame his shyness to take on a stage presence that made him internationally recognized.
▪ Having overcome his shyness, he revelled in the companionship.
way
▪ So a search began for ways of overcoming the difficulty.
▪ There was no way to overcome the feeling that we were all at a kind of funeral.
▪ One way of overcoming the apparent falsification was to suggest that phlogiston has negative weight.
▪ The measure of his heart is how he deals with adversity and the way he overcomes a seemingly impossible situation.
▪ Management and unions are looking at ways of overcoming the problem.
▪ It is always useful to consider ways to overcome any basic flaws in an evaluation procedure.
▪ The only way to overcome it is to succeed at something, at anything.
▪ Suggests ways of overcoming these problems.
ways
▪ So a search began for ways of overcoming the difficulty.
▪ It is always useful to consider ways to overcome any basic flaws in an evaluation procedure.
▪ It is useful to look at some ways of overcoming feelings of hesitation people often have before making a change.
▪ There are a number of ways to overcome this problem.
▪ Management and unions are looking at ways of overcoming the problem.
▪ Martin and Irvine 1983 recognise three problems with peer evaluation, and suggest ways of overcoming these problems.
▪ Suggests ways of overcoming these problems.
▪ When a player is presented with these psychological problems there are two ways he can overcome them.
■ VERB
design
▪ The three-year project is designed to overcome prejudice about the construction industry and give children a realistic insight into its many occupations.
▪ Operating rules are designed to overcome this inherent instability; but that night, in a hurry, the operators broke them.
help
▪ This in turn puts him in the right frame of mind to be helped to overcome the problem once and for all.
▪ They also can help students overcome barriers to success, frustration, and pain, helping them grow to greater self-sufficiency.
▪ Last night's film examined a one-day course which helps people overcome their fear of flying.
▪ Getting with the program helped one overcome the stress of the times one lived in.
▪ Practising aerobatics and spinning will help to overcome any misgivings you may have about flying in steep turns at low speeds.
▪ In general the colonial revolution has helped to overcome lethargy and the feeling of political impotence.
▪ And again dismissal certainly will not help them overcome their alcohol problem.
▪ Read in studio Children with Cerebral Palsy could soon lose the training centre that helps them to overcome their handicap.
manage
▪ More recent studies have managed to overcome several of these problems.
▪ Predictably, Dominy managed to overcome such scruples offer he was appointed commissioner.
▪ I realized he had managed to overcome what he called his weakness.
▪ Despite a few mechanical mishaps, loyal George manages to overcome the challenge and deliver the family to Rome.
▪ He admires actors like Robert Redford and Warren Beatty - who have managed to overcome their good looks and make a career.
▪ Daddy says it's quite remarkable the way you've always managed to overcome the obstacles in your life.
need
▪ In fact, you will probably need to overcome a certain reluctance to be recorded, whatever your location.
▪ We need something that will overcome them!
▪ For the system to work properly, several practical and technical obstacles will need to be overcome over the next 12 months.
▪ I knew from experience that objective performance data would be needed in overcoming that prior conditioning.
▪ Enormous vested interests will need to be overcome to bring about such changes.
▪ A range of policy innovations were needed to overcome or to moderate the urban problems.
▪ He may need counselling to overcome the trauma in the future.
▪ Ironically, the real weakness you need to overcome is your sensitivity to such criticism.
struggle
▪ Five target fish were nominated for the second day as the anglers struggled to overcome persistent torrential rain and buffeting winds.
▪ This magnificent abundance established one tradition that we are still struggling to overcome.
▪ Last Saturday, a weakened Gloucester side struggled to overcome Rosslyn Park.
▪ The very struggle to overcome the new problems can have a salutary welding effect on the new church.
▪ We didn't start as stars, struggling to overcome an excess of charm and good looks.
▪ While she was struggling to overcome the kidney disease, Erma was also fighting cancer and underwent a mastectomy.
try
▪ A number of solutions have been put forward to try and overcome this problem.
▪ The job of some one who is trying to overcome the idea of fighting to fall asleep is to give up.
▪ The system only interacts with the user in order to try to overcome the complexities or limitations of its own mechanisms.
▪ Once, trying to overcome a headache, she fell asleep.
▪ We will try to overcome both these obstacles together.
▪ Esoteric Psychology sets out to make us aware of it, and then gradually to try to overcome it.
▪ Her natural shyness was trying to overcome a new, bigger, and more intense feeling.
▪ Have you any suggestions as to what I might try to overcome the problem?
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Five employees were overcome by smoke.
▪ I don't think he'll ever overcome his fear of flying.
▪ I was overcome with an irresistible urge to hit him.
▪ New York overcame Washington in the final game.
▪ Sara had overcome the disadvantages of her background to become a successful lawyer.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ And its technical skill, vast financial reserves and marketing savvy give it the potential to overcome any early disadvantage.
▪ However, these difficulties were overcome by the efforts of devoted officers.
▪ I'd like to be able to overcome that feeling that it was a problem to everybody else.
▪ It had left him alone to think about the problems he had to face and how he would overcome them.
▪ One of the lessons of baseball is, adversity can be overcome.
▪ Rival, patriarchal faiths never entirely overcame the worship of this deity, nor will they ever do so.
▪ She felt she could never forgive herself, but when she got there, the beauty of the place overcame her again.
▪ Sometimes overcoming enormous odds, mostly because of racial prejudice, black athletes changed the sporting landscape in the United States.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Overcome

Overcome \O`ver*come"\, v. i. To gain the superiority; to be victorious.
--Rev. iii. 21.

Overcome

Overcome \O`ver*come"\, v. t. [imp. Overcame; p. p. Overcome; p. pr & vb. n. Overcoming.] [AS. ofercuman. See Over, Come, and cf. Supervene.]

  1. To get the better of; to surmount; to conquer; to subdue; as, to overcome enemies in battle.

    This wretched woman overcome Of anguish, rather than of crime, hath been.
    --Spenser.

  2. To overflow; to surcharge. [Obs.]
    --J. Philips.

  3. To come or pass over; to spread over. [Obs.]

    And overcome us like a summer's cloud.
    --Shak.

    Syn: To conquer; subdue; vanquish; overpower; overthrow; overturn; defeat; crush; overbear; overwhelm; prostrate; beat; surmount. See Conquer.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
overcome

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.

Wiktionary
overcome

vb. 1 (context transitive English) To surmount (a physical or abstract obstacle); to prevail over, to get the better of. 2 (context transitive obsolete English) To win (a battle).

WordNet
overcome

  1. adj. rendered powerless especially by an excessive amount or profusion of something; "a desk flooded with applications"; "felt inundated with work"; "too much overcome to notice"; "a man engulfed by fear"; "swamped by work" [syn: flooded, inundated, overpowered, overwhelmed, swamped, engulfed]

  2. [also: overcame]

overcome

  1. v. win a victory over; "You must overcome all difficulties"; "defeat your enemies"; "He overcame his shyness"; "She conquered here fear of mice"; "He overcame his infirmity"; "Her anger got the better of her and she blew up" [syn: get the better of, defeat]

  2. get on top of; deal with successfully; "He overcame his shyness" [syn: get over, subdue, surmount, master]

  3. overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli [syn: overwhelm, overpower, sweep over, whelm, overtake]

  4. overcome, usually through no fault or weakness of the person that is overcome; "Heart disease can get the best of us" [syn: get the best, have the best]

  5. [also: overcame]

Wikipedia
Overcome (Live song)

"Overcome" is a song by alternative rock group Live, which was released as the second single from their 2001 album, V.

Overcome (All That Remains album)

Overcome is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band All That Remains. It was released on September 16, 2008. Overcome is the first album by All That Remains that was not produced by Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage, as well as the first with the band's current drummer, Jason Costa.

Overcome

Overcome may refer to:

  • Overcome (Alexandra Burke album)
  • Overcome (All That Remains album)
  • "Overcome" (Creed song)
  • "Overcome" (Live song)
  • "overcome" (Tricky song)
  • "Overcome", a song by Stephanie McIntosh from Tightrope
  • "Overcome", a song by Wayne Marshall from the compilation album Diwali Riddim
Overcome (Creed song)

"Overcome" is a song written and performed by Creed. At the time of its release, it was their first single in seven years, and also the first from their 2009 reunion album, Full Circle. To date, it's their 11th song to reach the top 5 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The single was released digitally on August 25, 2009.

The radio world premiere of the full song took place August 18, 2009 at 5:13pm PDT on Alternative Rock Station KCXX in San Bernardino, California.

"Overcome" was written in reference to an event where rapper T.I. had saved Creed lead singer Scott Stapp from committing suicide.

Overcome (Alexandra Burke album)

Overcome is the debut studio album by British singer Alexandra Burke, released 19 October 2009 on Syco Music. The release of the album came a year after Burke won the British talent show, The X Factor, with the recording process taking place between 2008 and 2009. Critics praised the album for showcasing Burke's vocal charm and characterisation, comparing her vocal to American singers Anastacia and Whitney Houston and its contemporary finish; using a variety of acclaimed producers including RedOne and Ne-Yo.

Upon its release, Overcome debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 132,065 copies in its first week, the fourth largest first week sales for a female singer in 2009. The album became a commercial success in Europe being certified double platinum in the United Kingdom and Ireland. To date the album has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. All six singles released from Overcome peaked within the top twenty on the UK singles chart, three of which reached number one. As well as receiving positive reviews, Overcome earned a nomination for Best Album at the Urban Music Awards.

Overcome (band)

Overcome are an American Christian metal band, and they primarily play metalcore. They come from Phoenix, Arizona. The band started making music in 1993 until their decade-long hiatus from 2000 to 2010, when they commenced making music again. Tooth & Nail Records released the band's first two albums, Blessed Are the Persecuted in 1996 and When Beauty Dies in 1997. Facedown Records has released the other albums from the band signed the band. They released Immortal Until Their Work Is Done in 1999, More Than Death in 2001, The Great Campaign of Sabotage in 2011, and No Reserves. No Retreats. No Regrets. in 2013. They were one of the first "Spirit-Filled Hardcore" bands, along with Unashamed, Focused, Strongarm, and Zao. They were the first band signed to Facedown Records.

Usage examples of "overcome".

The sobs which interrupted the short and simple allocution which the pastor made to his flock overcame him so much that he stopped and said no more, except to invite all present to fervent prayer.

Scarcely had he done so, when the most curious sensation overcame him--a sensation of bewildering ecstasy as though he had drunk of some ambrosian nectar or magic drug which had suddenly wound up his nerves to an acute tension of indescribable delight.

Colney had to be overcome afresh, and he fled, but managed, with two or three of his bitter phrases, to make a cuttle-fish fight of it, that oppressively shadowed his vanquisher: The Daniel Lambert of Cities: the Female Annuitant of Nations:--and such like, wretched stuff, proper to Colney Durance, easily dispersed and outlaughed when we have our vigour.

The initial antinomy between the narrative of the author, which distorts the independent consciousness of the hero, and confession, which drowns the eternal and the universal in subjectivity, has been overcome.

I had assumed, arrogantly I suppose, that she would be overcome with gratitude.

For those situations in which these measures prove inadequate, chemists have produced a stunning array of drugs to control the mind, such as those to enable people to relax, to become mentally aroused and alert, to sleep, to relieve anxiety, to overcome depression, to counteract attentional disorders, to improve the memory, and to experience euphoria, bliss, and even alleged mystical states of consciousness.

How scarecrow outdoes scarecrow by a scarecrow head, how scarecrows keep bettering their time at elevating scarecrow crosses, how they overcome barbed-wire entanglements, not with old-fashioned wire cutters but by eating them up, barbs and all, then evacuate them barbless in scarecrow fashion, deserves to be recorded on charts, and recorded it is.

Although, as a general case, a ship unlucky in falling in with whales continues to cruise after them until she has barely sufficient provisions remaining to take her home, turning round then quietly and making the best of her way to her friends, yet there are instances when even this natural obstacle to the further prosecution of the voyage is overcome by headstrong captains, who, bartering the fruits of their hard-earned toils for a new supply of provisions in some of the ports of Chili or Peru, begin the voyage afresh with unabated zeal and perseverance.

Quintus Bland, his professional interest overcoming his low spirits for the moment.

Helva continued inexorably, this attack was engineered to overcome brawn and brain simultaneously.

To overcome the modified form of inflammation in the bronchial tubes, all sources of irritation should be avoided, as the inhalation of dust, or excessively cold air.

Torque forces that would easily separate material made of mere chemical bonds cannot overcome the strong force manifested by the buckyball SQUIDs, and the Met holds together.

The pathway that has led from the demonstration of the immunological nature of the homograft reaction and its universality to the development of relatively effective but by no means completely satisfactory means of overcoming it for therapeutic purposes is an interesting one that can only be touched upon very briefly.

The description sounded very much like it, and Miss Mallow felt overcome.

Throngplough, which he had sought all over the field where the Markmen had been overcome by the Romans, and had found it at last.