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Overbear vs Defeat - What's the difference?

overbear | defeat | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between overbear and defeat

is that overbear is to prevail over; to dominate, overpower; to oppress while defeat is to reduce, to nothing, the strength of.

As verbs the difference between overbear and defeat

is that overbear is to carry over while defeat is to overcome in battle or contest.

As a noun defeat is

the act of defeating or being defeated.

overbear

English

Verb

  • (obsolete) To carry over.
  • To push through by physical weight or strength; to overwhelm, overcome.
  • * c. 1390 , (Geoffrey Chaucer), ‘The Wife of Bath's Tale’, , Penguin Classics, p. 287:
    • I attacked first and they were overborne , / Glad to apologize and even suing / Pardon for what they'd never thought of doing.
  • To prevail over; to dominate, overpower; to oppress.
  • *1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , V.11:
  • *:It often fals, in course of common life, / That right long time is overborne of wrong […].
  • To produce an overabundance of fruit.
    • English irregular verbs

    defeat

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To overcome in battle or contest.
    • Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
  • To reduce, to nothing, the strength of.
  • * Tillotson
    • He finds himself naturally to dread a superior Being that can defeat all his designs, and disappoint all his hopes.
  • * A. W. Ward
    • In one instance he defeated his own purpose.
  • To nullify
  • * Hallam
    • The escheators defeated the right heir of his succession.

    Synonyms

    (To overcome in contest) * beat * conquer * overthrow * rout * vanquish

    Related terms

    * defeasance * defeasible * defeater * defeatism * defeatist * defeature

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of defeating or being defeated.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=May 13 , author=Alistair Magowan , title=Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Two defeats in five games coming into this contest, and a draw with Everton, ultimately cost Sir Alex Ferguson's side in what became the most extraordinary finale to the league championship since Arsenal beat Liverpool at Anfield in 1989.}}