o ‧ ver ‧ come W3 /ˌəʊvəˈkʌm $ ˌoʊvər-/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense overcame /-ˈkeɪm/, past participle overcome ) [transitive]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: ofercuman ]
1 . to successfully control a feeling or problem that prevents you from achieving something:
He struggled to overcome his shyness.
Her financial problems could no longer be overcome.
2 . [usually passive] if smoke or gas overcomes someone, they become extremely sick or unconscious because they breathe it:
The engineer was working on the freezer when he was overcome by gas.
3 . if an emotion overcomes someone, they cannot behave normally because they feel the emotion so strongly
overcome with
Charles was overcome with grief.
4 . to fight and win against someone or something SYN defeat :
Australia overcame the Netherlands 2–1.