Nearby Words

succumb

[suh-kuhm] Origin

suc·cumb

[suh-kuhm]
verb (used without object)
1.
to give way to superior force; yield: to succumb to despair.
2.
to yield to disease, wounds, old age, etc.; die.

Origin:
1480–90; < Latin succumbere, equivalent to suc- suc- + -cumbere, transitive derivative of cubāre to lie, recline; compare incumbent

suc·cumb·er, noun
un·suc·cumb·ing, adjective


1. submit, accede, surrender.

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Succumb is one of our favorite verbs.
So is peculate. Does it mean:
to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
Collins
World English Dictionary
succumb (səˈkʌm)
 
vb (often foll by to)
1.  to give way in face of the overwhelming force (of) or desire (for)
2.  to be fatally overwhelmed (by disease, old age, etc); die (of)
 
[C15: from Latin succumbere to be overcome, from sub- + -cumbere from cubāre to lie down]
 
suc'cumber
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

succumb
c.1489, from M.Fr. succomber, from L. succumbere "submit, sink down, lie under," from sub "down" + -cumbere "take a reclining position," related to cubare "lie down" (see cubicle). Originally transitive; sense of "sink under pressure" is first recorded 1604.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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