SURMOUNT

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does surmount mean? 

• SURMOUNT (verb)
  The verb SURMOUNT has 4 senses:

1. get on top of; deal with successfully

2. be on top of

3. reach the highest point of

4. be or do something to a greater degree

  Familiarity information: SURMOUNT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SURMOUNT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they surmount    ... he / she / it surmounts   
Past simple: surmounted   
Past participle: surmounted   
-ing form: surmounting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Get on top of; deal with successfully

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

get over; master; overcome; subdue; surmount

Context example:

He overcame his shyness

Hypernyms (to "surmount" is one way to...):

beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish (come out better in a competition, race, or conflict)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "surmount"):

bulldog (throw a steer by seizing the horns and twisting the neck, as in a rodeo)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be on top of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

The scarf surmounted the gown

Hypernyms (to "surmount" is one way to...):

head (be in the front of or on top of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "surmount"):

pinnacle (surmount with a pinnacle)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Reach the highest point of

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

scale; surmount

Context example:

We scaled the Mont Blanc

Hypernyms (to "surmount" is one way to...):

arrive at; attain; gain; hit; make; reach (reach a destination, either real or abstract)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Be or do something to a greater degree

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

exceed; outdo; outgo; outmatch; outperform; outstrip; surmount; surpass

Context example:

This car outperforms all others in its class

Hypernyms (to "surmount" is one way to...):

beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish (come out better in a competition, race, or conflict)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "surmount"):

outgrow (grow faster than)

outwear (last longer than others)

outmarch (march longer distances and for a longer time than)

shame (surpass or beat by a wide margin)

outfox (outdo someone in trickery)

out-herod (surpass someone in cruelty or evil)

outbrave (be braver than)

outweigh (be heavier than)

outrange (have a greater range than (another gun))

outshine (attract more attention and praise than others)

better; break (surpass in excellence)

outpace (surpass in speed)

outsell (be sold more often than other, similar products)

outsell (sell more than others)

outdraw (draw a gun faster, or best someone in a gunfight)

outsail (sail faster or better than)

outroar (roar louder than)

outcry; outshout (shout louder than)

beat; circumvent; outfox; outsmart; outwit; overreach (beat through cleverness and wit)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

A projection or projecting structure, or ridge, especially one surmounting a bone or its border.

(Crest, NCI Thesaurus)

Then he advanced to the stockade, threw over his crutch, got a leg up, and with great vigour and skill succeeded in surmounting the fence and dropping safely to the other side.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

After surmounting your unconquerable horror of the bed, you will retire to rest, and get a few hours' unquiet slumber.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The ascent is precipitous, but the path is cut into continual and short windings, which enable you to surmount the perpendicularity of the mountain.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

She was resolved against any sort of conversation with him, and turned away with a degree of ill-humour which she could not wholly surmount even in speaking to Mr. Bingley, whose blind partiality provoked her.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

You find us, Copperfield, said Mr. Micawber, with one eye on Traddles, at present established, on what may be designated as a small and unassuming scale; but, you are aware that I have, in the course of my career, surmounted difficulties, and conquered obstacles.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The walking party had crossed the lane, and were surmounting an opposite stile, and the Admiral was putting his horse in motion again, when Captain Wentworth cleared the hedge in a moment to say something to his sister.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

My eye passed all other objects to rest on those most remote, the blue peaks; it was those I longed to surmount; all within their boundary of rock and heath seemed prison-ground, exile limits.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

There was a main gateway of lichen-studded stone, each side pillar surmounted by mouldering heraldic emblems, but besides this central carriage drive I observed several points where there were gaps in the hedge and paths leading through them.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Before, dark and opaque bodies had surrounded me, impervious to my touch or sight; but I now found that I could wander on at liberty, with no obstacles which I could not either surmount or avoid.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)