Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use surmount in a sentence

26 example sentences · verb

Surmount means to get or be over without touching or resting on; to overcome. Example: “There are two realms: that of divine powers, another of the metadivine.¹ Even the gods are depicted as calling upon metadivine forces to surmount their own predestined limitations.”

Examples of surmount by meaning

verbTo get or be over without touching or resting on; to overcome.

  • There are two realms: that of divine powers, another of the metadivine.¹ Even the gods are depicted as calling upon metadivine forces to surmount their own predestined limitations.1960, Yehezkel Kaufmann, “Chapter II: Pagan Religion”, in Moshe Greenberg, transl., The Religion of Israel, University of Chicago, →OCLC...
  • Burkina Fasoan legislation surmounts one more step which sees in the organ created in this country and designated as the Superior Council of Information (S.C.I.), " an administrative authority".1995, Study on Legislation Related to Regulations Organs in the Field of Broadcasting in West Africa

verbTo cap; to sit on top of.

  • The boiler had a large dome over the firebox, inside the cab, surmounted by Ramsbottom safety valves.1951 April, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes: London Midland Region”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 283
  • The ovolo surmounting the dentil course generally turns the corner by means of a carved acanthus leaf, the decorated cyma and cyma reversa being similarly treated at the corner.2007, Robert Chitham, The Classical Orders of Architecture, →ISBN

More sentences with surmount

  • The open hearths of finery and chafery are surmounted each by a huge chimney.1957, H. R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, page 224. From the entry chafery
  • The trisula placed upon a pillar surmounted by flames is the monogram of Buddha.1945, William J. Fielding, Strange Superstitions and Magical Practices, page ii. 15. From the entry trisula
  • It is surmounted by a bas-relief of a winged boy holding an inverted torch.1938, “1788: Piety Weeping at the Tomb of Benevolence, a Model of a Monument to be Erected in Whitechapel Church, to the Memory of Dr…. From the entry putto
  • Here and there was an Italian cabinet surmounted with Delft, and here and there a bas-relief.1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 39”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC. From the entry delft
  • Later on this is surmounted of a bend of France ancient, an augmentation, no doubt.1901, Howel Wills, Florentine Heraldry: A Supplement to the Guide-books, page 130. From the entry scarpe
  • Another representation gives : Or, three scarps gules, with the same bend of France ancient surmounting.1901, Howel Wills, Florentine Heraldry: A Supplement to the Guide-books, page 130. From the entry scarpe
  • Some can surmount their victimhood, and some can't.1999, Judith Viorst, Imperfect Control, →ISBN, page 219. From the entry victimhood
  • Another Zionist leader, Berl Katznelson, likewise had no illusions that the opposition between Zionist and Palestinian aims could be surmounted.1999 January 10, Edward Said, “The One-State Solution”, in The New York Times Magazine, archived from the original on 13 Feb 2019. From the entry binationalist
  • This one is surmounted by a clock-tower with a bent weather-vane - the latter being the only disorderly object in sight.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 164. From the entry disorderly
  • Rev. — A device of doubtful interpretation intersected by two crosses in saltire and surmounted by a third.1920, Numismatic Chronicle, and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society, page 240. From the entry climant
  • But formidable obstacles in all of these classifications have been surmounted before by airmen, and, of course, can be surmounted again.1914 February 28, Henry Woodhouse, “Girdling the Globe by Motor-Driven Aircraft”, in Collier's, volume 52, number 24, page 13. From the entry globe
  • Mark, sejant-guardant, crowned and winged, bearing in the dexter jambe a closed book surmounted by a cross urdy.1908, Adrian Fortescue, The Orthodox Eastern Church, page 350. From the entry urdy
  • The Leech finger has Coll on it, the sage Hazel, who is the master physician, and is surmounted by Saille, the Willow of enchantment.2005, Kisma Reidling, Faery Initiations. From the entry leech-finger
  • Meta-philosophy is an antidote: it attempts to surmount separations and sunderings, tries to unite speculative philosophy and critical theory with political action.2002, Mike Crang, Nigel Thrift, Thinking Space, page 178. From the entry sundering
  • The shafts carry the usual cubical capitals—surmounted by plain heavy impost stones in place of moulded abaci—the one on the right being the better preserved.1942, Theodore Fyfe, Architecture in Cambridge: Examples of English Architectural Styles from Saxon to Modern Times, Cambridge…. From the entry abacus
  • Arms : Azure standing within a crown gold surmounting a conical mound in base vert a crane in her vigilance all silver.1928, New England Historic Genealogical Society. Committee on Heraldry, A Roll of Arms, page 10. From the entry in vigilance
  • Onis have claws, a square head with two horns, sharp teeth, and malignant eyes surmounted by big eyebrows; occasionally they wear trousers of tiger skin.1908, Henri L. Joly, Legend in Japanese Art: A Description of Historical Episodes, Legendary Characters, Folk-lore, Myths, Religious…. From the entry oni
  • You may see, for example, on a Ukrainian necklace or bracelet, or on a T-shirt, the letter Ї – like our letter I, surmounted by a diaeresis.2026 August 4, Charlotte Higgins, “‘The war leaked into every lesson’: learning Ukrainian in a country under siege”, in Katharine Viner…. From the entry surmounted
  • Evelyn recorded a suggestion that the Society might take as its coat of arms a representation of a pair of crossed telescopes surmounted by the Medicean planets.2015, David Wootton, The Invention of Science, Penguin, published 2016, page 296. From the entry Medicean
  • The sun is surmounted on either side by two white lions, respectant and sitting on an orange scroll inscribed UTMOST OF OUR ABILITY in gold letters.2006, Signal Corps, →ISBN, page 43. From the entry respectant
  • They were mounted as crapaudine doors; i.e., supflat moldings, studded with rosettes, surmounted by a cyma ported by pivots fitted into sockets in threshold and lintel.1973, Encyclopaedia Britannica - Volume 7, page 589. From the entry crapaudine
  • In view of all that we have said in the foregoing sections, the many obstacles we appear to have surmounted, what casts the pall over our victory celebration?1961, Richard Bellman, Adaptive Control Processes: A Guided Tour, Princeton University Press, page 94. From the entry malediction

Meaning of surmount

  1. verb To get or be over without touching or resting on; to overcome.
  2. verb To cap; to sit on top of.

Full definition of surmount

Questions about surmount in a sentence

How do you use surmount in a sentence?
Surmount is used as a verb. For example: “There are two realms: that of divine powers, another of the metadivine.¹ Even the gods are depicted as calling upon metadivine forces to surmount their own predestined limitations.”
What is a short sentence with surmount?
“Some can surmount their victimhood, and some can't.”
What does surmount mean?
Surmount means to get or be over without touching or resting on; to overcome.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: surmount (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use surmount in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/surmount. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.