Word.ws English Dictionary

surmounting

surmounting is the present participle and gerund of surmount.

Noun

surmounting (plural surmountings)

  1. The act by which something is surmounted, or overcome.
    • How can we appraise and preserve the glories won in our yesterdays without a knowledge of the tragedies and travails, the strivings and their surmountings, the compelling aspirations and their slow, patient accomplishment […]1963, United States. Congress, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates
  2. A decorative feature that sits on top of something.
    • The sides of the casket were covered with heavy black broadcloth, with velvet caps, presenting a deep contrast to the rich surmountings.1866, In Memoriam: General Lewis Cass, page 214
    • This and the round gable ends, with their subsequent Gothic surmountings, the five lofty domes, the rich ornament of gold and colour which covers every part, give an effect to the whole building […]1869, Wilhelm Lübke, History of Art, volume 1, page 411

Meaning of surmount

Verb

surmount (third-person singular simple present surmounts, present participle surmounting, simple past and past participle surmounted)

  1. (transitive) To get or be over without touching or resting on; to overcome.
    • this difficulty may perhaps be surmounted by care and art1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 10
  2. (transitive) To 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

Forms of surmounting

pluralsurmountings

Questions about surmounting

What does surmounting mean?
Surmounting means the act by which something is surmounted, or overcome.
What is surmounting the present participle and gerund of?
Surmounting is the present participle and gerund of surmount.
What part of speech is surmounting?
Surmounting is a noun.
What is the plural of surmounting?
The plural of surmounting is surmountings.

Words near surmounting in the dictionary

  1. surmounted
  2. surmounter
  3. surmounters
  4. surmountest
  5. surmounteth
  6. surmounting
  7. surmountings
  8. surmounts
  9. surmullet
  10. surmullets
  11. surmulot

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: surmounting (page history and authors); surmount (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “surmounting.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/surmounting. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.