Overcome vs Conquer - What's the difference?
overcome | conquer |
To surmount (a physical or abstract obstacle); to prevail over, to get the better of.
:to overcome enemies in battle
*Spenser
*:This wretched woman overcome / Of anguish, rather than of crime, hath been.
*1898 , , (Moonfleet), Ch.4:
*:By and by fumes of brandy began to fill the air, and climb to where I lay, overcoming the mouldy smell of decayed wood and the dampness of the green walls.
(obsolete) To win (a battle).
*:
*:Ther with all cam kyng Arthur but with a fewe peple and slewe on the lyfte hand and on the ryght hand that wel nyhe ther escaped no man / but alle were slayne to the nombre of xxx M / And whan the bataille was all ended the kynge kneled doune and thanked god mekely / and thenne he sente for the quene and soone she was come / and she maade grete Ioye of the ouercomynge of that bataille
To win or prevail in some sort of battle, contest, etc.
:
*
, chapter=2, title= (usually in passive) To overwhelm with emotion.
:
To come or pass over; to spread over.
*Shakespeare
*:And overcome us like a summer's cloud.
To overflow; to surcharge.
:
To defeat in combat; to subjugate.
* (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
To overcome an abstract obstacle.
* (John Milton) (1608-1674)
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.}}
To gain, win, or obtain by effort.
To acquire by force of arms, win in war.
Conquer is a synonym of overcome.
As verbs the difference between overcome and conquer
is that overcome is to surmount (a physical or abstract obstacle); to prevail over, to get the better of while conquer is to defeat in combat; to subjugate.overcome
English
Verb
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired. And if the arts of humbleness failed him, he overcame you by sheer impudence.}}
References
* *conquer
English
Verb
(en verb)- We conquered France, but felt our captive's charms.
- By winning words to conquer hearts, / And make persuasion do the work of fear.