To overcome or subdue (an emotion, for example); suppress: "She had had to wrench herself forcibly away from Katharine, and every step vanquished her desire"(Virginia Woolf). See Synonyms at defeat.
[Middle English vaynquisshen, from Old French vainquir, vainquiss-, from Latin vincere; see weik-3 in Indo-European roots.] van'quish·a·ble adj., van'quish·er n., van'quish·ment n.
[vang-kwish, van-] 
