overcome
part of speech
verb (overcome, overcomes, overcame, overcoming; past participle overcome); adjective (overcome)
meaning for a pupil
1) To overcome a problem or fear is to deal with it successfully and beat it. tree →
2) To overcome an enemy is to defeat them. tree →
3) To be overcome by something is to be made weak or helpless by a strong feeling, smoke or heat. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories and lessons about growth and feelings it tells of a character beating a difficulty: «she overcame her fear of water». In safety it warns about smoke: people can be overcome by fumes, so get low and get out. Phrases: «overcome a fear», «overcome an obstacle», «overcome with joy/emotion».
examples
- She overcame her fear of the dark. tree →
- We can overcome this problem together. tree →
- He was overcome with joy when he won. tree →
- Firefighters found a man overcome by smoke. tree →
- The team overcame a two-goal deficit to win. tree →
- Practice helps you overcome mistakes. tree →
- The knight overcame the dragon. tree →
- Grandma was overcome with emotion at the party. tree →
- The father could not speak; he was too much overcome. tree →
note
Irregular like «come»: overcome, overcame, overcome (not «overcomed»). «Overcome by/with» is passive and means a strong feeling or gas took over. Do not confuse with «come over» (visit, or a feeling came over you).
In the corpora
- Why shouldest thou be as a man overcome, as a mighty man that cannot save?
- Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «overcome» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.