OVERTHROW • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Overthrow

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/ˈoʊvərθrˌoʊ/ Listen

noun

Overthrow n.

1.

The act of overthrowing; the state of being overthrown; ruin. "Your sudden overthrow much rueth me."

2.

(a)

(Baseball) The act of throwing a ball too high, as over a player's head.

(b)

(Cricket) A faulty return of the ball by a fielder, so that the striker makes an additional run.

verb

Overthrow v. t. (past overthrew; past part. overthrown; pres. part. overthrowing)

1.

To throw over; to overturn; to upset; to turn upside down. "His wife overthrew the table."

2.

To cause to fall or to fail; to subvert; to defeat; to make a ruin of; to destroy; as, to overthrow a government. "When the walls of Thebes he overthrew." "(Gloucester) that seeks to overthrow religion."

3.

(Baseball) To throw (a baseball) beyond; to throw too high and too far; to overshoot (1); as, the shortstop overthrew the first baseman.

Synonyms: To demolish; overturn; prostrate; destroy; ruin; subvert; overcome; conquer; defeat; discomfit; vanquish; beat; rout.

See images of 'Overthrow'

Etymology of 'Overthrow'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Overthrow" Quotes from Famous Books

... it: the downfall of Israel is imminent. It was nothing short of blasphemy to utter anything of this kind, for everything, Jehovah Himself included, depended on the existence of the nation. But the most astounding thing has yet to come; not Asshur, but Jehovah Himself, is bringing about the overthrow of Israel; through Asshur it is Jehovah that is triumphing over Israel. A paradoxical thought—as if the national God were to cut the ground from under His own feet! For the faith in Jehovah as the God of Israel was a faith ...

— Prolegomena to the History of Israel • Julius Wellhausen

... that the vessel which contained our fortune had been wrecked, and gone to the bottom with all its stores, together with several of the crew, and the unfortunate merchant himself. I was grieved for him; I was grieved for the overthrow of all our air-built castles: but, with the elasticity of youth, ...

— Agnes Grey • Anne Bronte

... can learn the full character of the good or evil of any abstract principle only by seeing its practical workings. The tree is known by its fruits. Rationalism may be of evil character, but we must see the results it has produced,—the great overthrow of faith it has effected, and its influence upon the pulpit and press of the countries invaded by it, before we can comprehend the vastness of our danger. An enumeration of the evil doings of a public enemy is the best plan to forestall his future misdeeds. We are not to judge Rationalism by its ...

— History of Rationalism Embracing a Survey of the Present State of Protestant Theology • John F. Hurst

... news-stand in any country of Continental Europe where one may not purchase a newspaper openly or secretly opposed to the government,—not merely attacking an unpopular administration or minister or ruler,—but desiring and plotting the overthrow of the entire political system of the country. It is very difficult to find such a newspaper anywhere in the United States. I myself have never seen one. The opening sentence of President Butler's admirable little book, The American as He Is, originally delivered as lectures before the University ...

— The American Mind - The E. T. Earl Lectures • Bliss Perry

... was the centre of a formidable conspiracy against Richelieu. Messengers came and went, and Bouillon, Soissons, and the Archbishop of Rheims were constantly closeted together. They had various allies at court, and believed that they should be able to overthrow the minister who had so long ruled over France in ...

— Won by the Sword - A Story of the Thirty Years' War • G.A. Henty

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