Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To bring about the downfall, destruction, or ending of, especially by force or concerted action.
- transitive verb Sports To throw a ball or other object over and beyond (an intended target).
- transitive verb To throw or push over; overturn.
- noun An instance of overthrowing, especially one that results in downfall or destruction.
- noun Sports The throwing of a ball over and beyond a target, especially in baseball.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act of overthrowing, or the state of being overthrown; subversion; destruction; discomfiture; defeat; conquest: as, the overthrow of a tower, of a city, of plans, of one's reason.
- noun Synonyms Prostration, wreck, rout. See
defeat , v. t. - To overturn; upset.
- To throw down; prostrate.
- Hence — To overcome; defeat; vanquish.
- To subvert; overturn; ruin; spoil.
- To cast down; deject.
- Synonyms Overpower, Overwhelm, etc. (see
defeat ), overcome, master, worst, crush. Subvert, etc. Seeoverturn . - noun In cricket, a throw of the ball which sends it past the fielder at the wicket, so that additional runs are made in consequence.
- In cricket, to throw (the ball) inaccurately at the wicket, and so give unearned runs to the opposing batsman.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act of overthrowing; the state of being overthrown; ruin.
- noun (Baseball) The act of throwing a ball too high, as over a player's head.
- noun (Cricket) A faulty return of the ball by a fielder, so that the striker makes an additional run.
- transitive verb To throw over; to overturn; to upset; to turn upside down.
- transitive verb To cause to fall or to fail; to subvert; to defeat; to make a ruin of; to destroy.
- transitive verb (Baseball) To throw (a baseball) beyond; to throw too high and too far; to overshoot{1}.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
throw down to the ground, tooverturn . - verb transitive To bring about the
downfall of (agovernment , etc.), especially byforce . - noun A
removal , especially of a ruler or government, byforce or threat of force. - verb transitive, intransitive To throw (something) so that it goes too
far . - noun sports A
throw that goes toofar . - noun cricket A
run scored by thebatting side when a fielder throws the ball back to the infield, whence it continues to the opposite outfield.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb cause the downfall of; of rulers
- noun the termination of a ruler or institution (especially by force)
- verb rule against
- noun the act of disturbing the mind or body
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word overthrow.
Examples
-
As Galula explained, one of the main advantages that insurgents have over the governments they seek to overthrow is their lack of responsibility for governance.
-
I was just trying to overthrow from the beginning, just trying to do stuff that is not myself.
-
I have no doubt that if Pinochet's government could not be defeated by weapons, because no one could carry out a short-term overthrow, the correct thing to do was to exploit all other possible means to change the situation in the country, even though it would not imply Pinochet's overthrow, but a lengthy and complex process, as is the process in Chile today.
-
To the conqueror direct, only two days later, was recommended in explicit terms the overthrow of Romanism in religion, "the most dangerous obstacle to the establishment of the French constitution."
-
For the Lord hath turned away the excellency of Jacob -- that is, the time for Nineveh's overthrow is ripe, because Jacob (Judah) and Israel
-
Ameer, met his downfall with resignation and composure, though with sadness, for he knew the fate of a Persian minister whose overthrow is followed by imprisonment.
-
This implies that the church has enemies that fight against it, and endeavour its ruin overthrow, here represented by the gates of hell, that is, the city of hell; (which is directly opposite to this heavenly city, this city of the living God), the devil's interest among the children of men.
-
What do you mean "overthrow" - you mean that one morning I come on guard duty and shoot the sergeant? '
-
a further overthrow is foretold (Jer 49: 23; Zec 9: 1).
-
Is there someone who recalls the overthrow of the Taliban as an internal Afghan uprising?
bilby commented on the word overthrow
Cricket jargon: situation where a fielder's errant throw results in more runs being scored than would otherwise have been the case. The runs are credited to the batsman.
October 3, 2009