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Definition of "surmount" [sur•mount]

  • To overcome (an obstacle, for example); conquer. (verb-transitive)
  • To ascend to the top of; climb. (verb-transitive)
  • To place something above; top. (verb-transitive)
  • To be above or on top of: The church steeple surmounts the square. (verb-transitive)
  • Obsolete To surpass or exceed in amount. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "surmount" in a sentence
  • "The key difficulty Mr Brown needs to surmount is that Labour looks so dreadfully tired (as well as appallingly incompetent, but let’s leave that to one side)."
  • "The barrier OneNote aims to surmount is one created by Microsoft’s own success in establishing Word and Outlook, plus the overall Windows file system, as the dominant standards for writing, calendar keeping, and workplace communication."
  • "Of course we have "deep political and ideological divisions," but the failure of a committed left-wing ideologue to "surmount" them does not mean they are insurmountable, does not demonstrate that those divisions could not be surmounted by someone from either party truly determined to govern from closer to the center."