OVERTHROW (overthrew, overthrown)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: overthrew    , overthrown   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does overthrow mean? 

• OVERTHROW (noun)
  The noun OVERTHROW has 2 senses:

1. the termination of a ruler or institution (especially by force)

2. the act of disturbing the mind or body

  Familiarity information: OVERTHROW used as a noun is rare.

• OVERTHROW (verb)
  The verb OVERTHROW has 2 senses:

1. cause the downfall of; of rulers

2. rule against

  Familiarity information: OVERTHROW used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OVERTHROW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The termination of a ruler or institution (especially by force)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("overthrow" is a kind of...):

conclusion; ending; termination (the act of ending something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "overthrow"):

subversion; subversive activity (the act of subverting; as overthrowing or destroying a legally constituted government)

Derivation:

overthrow (cause the downfall of; of rulers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of disturbing the mind or body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

derangement; overthrow; upset

Context example:

she was unprepared for this sudden overthrow of their normal way of living

Hypernyms ("overthrow" is a kind of...):

disturbance (the act of disturbing something or someone; setting something in motion)

• OVERTHROW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they overthrow    ... he / she / it overthrows   
Past simple: overthrew   
Past participle: overthrown   
-ing form: overthrowing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause the downfall of; of rulers

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

bring down; overthrow; overturn; subvert

Context example:

subvert the ruling class

Hypernyms (to "overthrow" is one way to...):

depose; force out (force to leave (an office))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "overthrow"):

revolutionize (overthrow by a revolution, of governments)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

overthrow (the termination of a ruler or institution (especially by force))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Rule against

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

override; overrule; overthrow; overturn; reverse

Context example:

The Republicans were overruled when the House voted on the bill

Hypernyms (to "overthrow" is one way to...):

decree; rule (decide with authority)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

With the overthrow of Lip-lip, White Fang could have become leader of the pack.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Such an overthrow of every thing she had been wishing for!

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Respect, esteem, and confidence had vanished for ever; and all his views of domestic happiness were overthrown.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Spitz gained his feet almost as though he had not been overthrown, slashing Buck down the shoulder and leaping clear.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I could not have thought that there was any single arm upon earth which could have overthrown these four champions.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But though her wishes were overthrown, there was no spirit of murmuring within her.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Mingled with this horror, I felt the bitterness of disappointment; dreams that had been my food and pleasant rest for so long a space were now become a hell to me; and the change was so rapid, the overthrow so complete!

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

It was my good fortune, that no ill accident happened in these entertainments; only once a fiery horse, that belonged to one of the captains, pawing with his hoof, struck a hole in my handkerchief, and his foot slipping, he overthrew his rider and himself; but I immediately relieved them both, and covering the hole with one hand, I set down the troop with the other, in the same manner as I took them up.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Oh! could the originals of the portraits against the wainscot, could the gentlemen in brown velvet and the ladies in blue satin have seen what was going on, have been conscious of such an overthrow of all order and neatness!

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

After that, I observed that Mr. Gulpidge and Mr. Henry Spiker, who had hitherto been very distant, entered into a defensive alliance against us, the common enemy, and exchanged a mysterious dialogue across the table for our defeat and overthrow.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)