sur·mount

[ser-mount]
verb (used with object)
1.
to mount upon; get on the top of; mount upon and cross over: to surmount a hill.
2.
to get over or across (barriers, obstacles, etc.).
3.
to prevail over: to surmount tremendous difficulties.
4.
to be on top of or above: a statue surmounting a pillar.
5.
to furnish with something placed on top or above: to surmount a tower with a spire.
6.
Obsolete.
a.
to surpass in excellence.
b.
to exceed in amount.
Origin:
1325–75; Middle English surmounten < Anglo-French surmounter, Middle French. See sur-1, mount1

Related forms
sur·mount·a·ble, adjective
sur·mount·a·ble·ness, noun
sur·mount·er, noun
un·sur·mount·a·ble, adjective
un·sur·mount·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
surmount (sɜːˈmaʊnt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—vb
1.  to prevail over; overcome: to surmount tremendous difficulties
2.  to ascend and cross to the opposite side of
3.  to lie on top of or rise above
4.  to put something on top of or above
5.  obsolete to surpass or exceed
 
[C14: from Old French surmonter, from sur-1 + monter to mount1]
 
sur'mountable
 
—adj
 
sur'mountableness
 
—n
 
sur'mounter
 
—n

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

surmount
late 14c., "to rise above, go beyond," from O.Fr. surmounter "rise above," from sur- "beyond" + monter "to go up" (see mount (v.)). Meaning "to prevail over, overcome" is recorded from late 14c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Mobile phones must still surmount social obstacles, however.
We brainstormed ways to surmount seemingly impossible challenges.
Tear up the entire mountain and surmount any landscape that stands in your
  pathway.
Challenge students to identify and surmount obstacles.
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