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overcome

[oh-ver-kuhm]

Example Sentences Origin

verb (used with object)

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.

verb (used without object)

to gain the victory; win; conquer: a plan to overcome by any means possible.

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Overcome is a TOEFL word you need to know.

So is mimic. Does it mean:

to imitate or copy in action or speech, often playfully or derisively

to bring in merchandise or workers from a foreign country for use, sale or processing

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Origin:
before 900; Middle English; Old English ofercuman. See over-, come

Related forms

o·ver·com·er, noun

un·o·ver·come, adjective

Synonyms
1. vanquish. See defeat.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To overcome

Example Sentences

He, too, was overcome and fell into the water below.

Springall said, must do more to help students prepare for that struggle-and overcome it.

It was built on the notion that economic integration would overcome war and national rivalry.

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He, too, was overcome and fell into the water below.

Springall said, must do more to help students prepare for that struggle-and overcome it.

It was built on the notion that economic integration would overcome war and national rivalry.

The genetic deficiencies from each parent's lineage were easily overcome by the strengths of the other.

So now today scientists are trying to develop new kinds of antibiotics to overcome this resistance.

But there are plenty of challenges to overcome first.

As technology wears away these obstacles, the law may be the only speed bump for government surveillance to overcome.

It is a testament to the historical divisiveness and prejudice that higher education is trying so desperately to overcome.

If it succeeds, it can be launched fully formed, and bureaucratic resistance thus overcome.

Even if you found space to shoot there were logistical problems to overcome.

Any increase in green energy must overcome business and regulatory obstacles.

History has shown that it's possible for people to overcome even extreme poverty and hunger.

There's a learning curve, but it's quickly overcome.

Not everyone can overcome their childhood as a child.

To overcome this brittleness they are frequently deposited as thin films on other, more flexible, materials.

You'll also witness the ingenuity, skill, and trickery used to overcome such challenges.

Of course cheap power will be needed to overcome pollution of our world.

We try to protect ourselves against volcanoes and tornadoes, but they overcome us despite our best precautions.

Death follows soon after as common diseases overcome the body.

But even if their planners can overcome the divisiveness in town-gown relations to get shovels in the ground, we.

The effect of one damaged copy can usually be overcome if a working copy exists as well.

Modern whales have many adaptations that allow them to overcome these obstacles.

Many technical obstacles must be overcome and unanswered questions resolved before stem cells can safely fulfill their promise.

Here, at last, was the hot chocolate that was able to overcome my aversion.

Researchers devise ways to reward students who have overcome disadvantages.

Commercial manufacturers see huge potential in clothes that glow, do not wrinkle or overcome body odour.

Chickens are believed to have supernatural powers that can protect patients from evil and empower them to overcome ailments.

The article notes some hurdles to overcome in order to push the price lower.

The problem being the road will have to go through a wilderness area, and several hurdles will have to overcome.

The academy also seems to be ideologically committed to the power of the individual to overcome all odds.

But adequate schools and schooling should be able to overcome both.

To overcome these obstacles, the team constructed and placed habitats at four depths in the cave.

If that initial counter energy is sufficient then the weak rotational affects of the star are overcome.

One concetto that fascinated the sculptor throughout his career was the attempt to overcome the limitations of his materials.

Unsurprisingly, therefore, some parasites have evolved ways to manipulate their hosts' behaviour to overcome this problem.

Viruses can be thought of as hyperspeed shape-shifters, organisms that can adapt quickly to overcome barriers to infection.

They were a defeated nation so they had to overcome a devastation of the spirit.

Even if the president could fulfil some of those requests, however, he would still have to overcome the weight of history.

People are given birth to work and overcome their difficulties occur in they road ahead.

He was overcome by tear gas as well because there were not enough gas masks for every officer.

It took a month for the authorities to overcome their reluctance to call for outside help.

We are finite emotional creatures, but empiricism helps us to understand where our weak points are, and possibly overcome them.

It shows how people can overcome all of the violence.

Other hurdles must be overcome if impact investing is to soar.

But it only takes one mutation on the rust side, and then it can overcome this resistance.

Ultimately, skilled workers will be less vulnerable and more likely to overcome grim economic conditions.

The reality, however, is that many hurdles still have to be overcome first.

Although there is no lack of ideas for economic reform, there is a dearth of plans to overcome vested interests.

There are still plenty of political hurdles to overcome.

It is merely teaching participants how to overcome their writer's block.

Welsh suffered from the same inferiority complex but managed to overcome it.

Such problems present serious barriers to an integrated cross-border securities market and will not easily be overcome.

Perhaps the trust received advice that gave warning that legal obstacles could take years to overcome.

Researchers say they can overcome a barrier to the continued rapid miniaturization of computer memory.

It is the main key to overcome and prevent the risks you might encounter.

From a purely economic point of view, the region has already overcome some of the hurdles to a single currency, however.

Patients can get relief from pain or overcome their phobias by immersing themselves in computer-generated worlds.

To overcome the soil problem, she put the plants in containers.

Potentially, he said, people can overcome nightmares that haunt them repeatedly.

Yet the manufacturers believe these concerns can be overcome.

Earthquakes occur when shifting pieces of the surface overcome friction at their edges and.

Breakthrough could overcome key obstacle to embryonic stem cell research.

But obstacles must be overcome before file sharing becomes a.

More sports, fewer long, teary stories about the sacrifices the athletes have overcome to get there.

But successful countries can still do much to overcome the difficulty.

The body was preserved exactly where the person was overcome by pyroclastic flows.

When mice are exposed to enriched environments, their offspring can overcome genetic defects that impair long-term memory.

In a game, it becomes a challenge to overcome the limitations.

Getting a master's first is often used to overcome low undergrad grades and a math deficit.

On the first two occasions, the executive promptly introduced measures to overcome the judicial blockage.

Emperor penguin parents overcome starvation, freezing weather, and hungry leopard seals to keep their chicks well fed.

The licenses attempt to overcome the inherently restrictive nature of copyright law.

Some photographers have fought to overcome the limitations of the camera lens depth of field.

Data sharing from research has many roadblocks, some of them difficult to overcome.

The book shows that with strength and faith, one can always overcome challenges.

Garrett had to overcome the opposition of her parents.

For me, it was a tranformative experience that required me to overcome fears and develop new abilities.

She must also think quickly and imaginatively to overcome obstacles and unravel the mystery behind the paintings.

But after a two month struggle, she was overcome by her injuries.

While safety is a valid concern, it is one that might be overcome by better drug design.

In truth, it takes a lot to overcome natural inertia and kill any organisation.

Similar barriers must be overcome to keep a program going after the aid group leaves.

However, the report notes, the latter could easily be overcome through study of publicly available information.

He may overcome this, but people are still going to be asking hard questions that flowery talk won't erase.

Employers have to overcome their own insecurities and failings to create such an environment.

Particularly in suburban areas, ready supplies of free food also enable the birds to overcome any awe of humans.

Briel still has a couple of technical and legal hurdles to overcome.

The three who left early, overcome by the urge to begin their holidays, were sacked days later.

They go into extreme environments having already overcome a lifetime of obstacles-mental more so than physical.

Mankind in trying to change the climate is trying to overcome the natural forces of planetary gravity.

Williams sees pathways in quantum research that will overcome the current physical limits of silicon chips.

Asian countries are also determined to overcome our lead in science and.

History took notice-the largest petroleum storage tank fire in the world was overcome.

But the table cloth is yanked so fast away from the coin the coins inertia cannot be overcome that fast, leaving the coin behind.

Noether had overcome many hurdles before she could collaborate with the famed physicist.

It remains to be seen if this new, united vision can overcome these formidable barriers and deliver.

Others use beta-blockers to overcome the anxiety and stress of performance.

Describe five hazards a baby sea turtle must overcome in order to reach adulthood.

There is no way to avoid the continuing advance of knowledge and is ever more difficult to overcome the challenges that brings.

And, with honeybees as with fictional characters, dance can ultimately help us overcome our differences.

Beyond students leaving for work, he had to overcome other distractions.

Its ageing, inward-looking citizens no longer have the resolve to overcome adversity.

Yet history proves that with a common will, humanity can overcome obstacles and accomplish astounding things".

Oxygen is upplimened in the dark regimen to overcome conditions of fouling and culture collapse.

It is the burden of those who claim that he was not the author to overcome that presumption.

Iarpa, the intelligence community's out-there research unit, is behind the effort to overcome even the sneakiest deceivers.

The candidate would have to be super good and the others super bad for these disadvantages to be overcome.

It seems that good luck and healthy living can sometimes overcome a lacklustre pedigree.

It is a form of hubris that can often lead to the feeling that technical solutions can overcome all problems.

She has overcome ridicule and stigma and is a person to be admired.

Hymes doesn't explain how such an obstacle might be overcome.

Marriage is a big step that has many hurdles to overcome.

They must overcome meddling from above as well as crises brewing below.

Experiencing these feelings can make life miserable, but the good news is it is possible to overcome them.

It may be that our pursuit of seperate existences would have also lead to a psychic seperation which can not be overcome.

Rather, there are some basic structural and logistical barriers in place that nobody has figured out how to overcome.

Only when he was allowed to mingle with other prisoners again did he begin to overcome his despair.

The only way to overcome this is to spend time with the people or to go to parts of the place less frequented by tourists.

Our living instinct is so strong what may be tragedy occurred on us living instinct overcome it.

We need to learn how to overcome this problem and solve it using.

Sometimes a millennia of progress cannot overcome the few inches between our ears.

However, even this resistance is overcome by prolonged and persistent exposure to acid rain.

Millennia of effort to overcome the coupling of production and consumption eventually.

The company has been working hard to overcome the persistent issue of how to build a safe.

The mayor is still battling with a budget deficit and is trying to overcome decades of gross mismanagement.

However, he does have some internal issues to overcome before anyone will listen.

The authors argue that technology and outsourcing are enabling services to overcome their former handicaps.

Perhaps even new technologies that will overcome our stubborn resistance to mental change.

As the technology ages, its original headlong tech impetus is unable to overcome its many poorly-designed deployments.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

overcome (ˌəʊvəˈkʌm)

—vb , -comes, -coming, -came, -come
1.	(tr) to get the better of in a conflict
2.	(tr; often passive) to render incapable or powerless by laughter, sorrow, exhaustion, etc: he was overcome by fumes
3.	(tr) to surmount (obstacles, objections, etc)
4.	(intr) to be victorious

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

overcome

O.E. ofer-cuman "to reach, overtake," also "to conquer, prevail over," from ofer "over" + cuman "to come" (see come). A common Gmc. compound (cf. M.Du. overkomen, O.H.G. ubarqueman, Ger. überkommen). In ref. to mental or chemical force, "to overwhelm, render helpless,"

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it is in late O.E. 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."

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