overturn

overturn

—vb
1.	to turn or cause to turn from an upright or normal position
2.	(tr) to overthrow or destroy
3.	(tr) to invalidate; reverse: the bill was passed in the Commons but overturned in the Lords

—n
4.	the act of overturning or the state of being overturned

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

overturn

early 13c., of a wheel, "to rotate, roll over," from over + turn (v.). Attested from c.1300 in general trans. sense "to throw over violently;" fig. meaning "to ruin, destroy" is from late 14c. Of judicial decisions, "to reverse," it is attested from 1969.

Example sentences

But his attorney-general said that it would seek to overturn them.

The law he wants to overturn has also hobbled libraries' efforts to digitize

and share books, films, and music.

Winds can uproot trees and overturn single-wide mobile homes.

She'd watched television cop shows: if you prove a juror engaged in misconduct,

it could overturn the case.

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Matching Quote

"Intellectual despair results in neither weakness nor dreams, but in violence.... It is only a matter of knowing how to give vent to one's rage; whether one only wants to wander like madmen around prisons, or whether one wants to overturn them."

-Georges Bataille