surmount
Other forms: surmounted; surmounting; surmounts
If you surmount a challenge or difficult situation, you're not just getting over it. You're outdoing yourself, exceeding expectations, and overcoming the task at hand.
This word comes to us from the Old French verb for mount, or climb. Maria sang "climb every mountain..." in The Sound of Music. But she could have just as well meant "surmount every obstacle" — because to surmount means to both reach the highest point of something, like a mountain, and to totally overcome a mountain-size problem.
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get on top of; deal with successfully
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be or do something to a greater degree
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types:
- show 20 types...
- hide 20 types...
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beat, circumvent, outfox, outsmart, outwit, overreach
beat through cleverness and wit
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outgrow
grow faster than
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outcry, outshout
shout louder than
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outroar
roar louder than
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outsail
sail faster or better than
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outdraw
draw a gun faster, or best someone in a gunfight
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outsell
sell more than others
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outsell
be sold more often than other, similar products
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outpace
surpass in speed
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better, break
surpass in excellence
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outshine
attract more attention and praise than others
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outrange
have a greater range than (another gun)
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outweigh
be heavier than
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outbrave
be braver than
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out-herod
surpass someone in cruelty or evil
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outfox
outdo someone in trickery
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shame
surpass or beat by a wide margin
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outmarch
march longer distances and for a longer time than
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outwear
last longer than others
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upstage
steal the show, draw attention to oneself away from someone else
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reach the highest point of
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be on top of
Vocabulary lists containing surmount
After a shipwreck, a man must survive for decades on a remote island. Read the full text here.
This biography, told in graphic form, explores the life of the famed Brazilian soccer player.
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