overbear
/,ouvə'beə/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To dominate or overcome by superior force or influence: To decisively defeat, suppress, or overwhelm someone or something, often through sheer weight, authority, or intensity.
- To bear down on or press upon: To physically or figuratively weigh heavily upon, often causing submission or yielding.
- To be more significant or important than: To outweigh in importance, value, or effect.
Usage and Examples
- Verb:
- The judge's stern demeanor seemed to overbear the nervous witness. (The judge's authority and presence overwhelmed the witness.)
- Her desire to succeed will overbear any feelings of fear. (Her strong desire will overcome or suppress her fear.)
- In the debate, his logical arguments overbore his opponent's emotional appeals. (His arguments were more powerful and outweighed the others.)
Advanced Usage
- "to overbear someone's will": to suppress or crush someone's personal desires or decisions through force or authority.
- The tyrannical leader sought to overbear the will of the entire population.
- Passive Construction ("to be overborne"): to be overwhelmed or overcome.
- The small rebellion was quickly overborne by the government's forces.
Variants and Related Words
- Overbearing (Adjective): Unpleasantly or arrogantly domineering.
- His overbearing attitude made him difficult to work with.
- Overbore (Verb, Past Tense): The simple past tense of "overbear".
- She overbore all objections with her detailed plan.
Synonyms
- Overwhelm: To overpower, especially with superior forces or emotions.
- Dominate: To have a commanding influence over; to control.
- Subdue: To bring under control by force or persuasion.
- Override: To use one's authority to reject or annul a decision, argument, or system.
Phrasal Verbs
(This word does not commonly form standard phrasal verbs. Its meaning is contained within the single verb form.)
Related Idioms
- "To overbear opposition": A common collocation meaning to forcefully overcome resistance or disagreement.
- The new policy was implemented by managers who were determined to overbear all opposition.
Verb
- contract the abdominal muscles during childbirth to ease delivery
- bear too much
- overcome
- overbear criticism, protest, or arguments