Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To defeat or conquer in battle; subjugate.
- v. To defeat in a contest, conflict, or competition.
- v. To overcome or subdue (an emotion, for example); suppress: "She had had to wrench herself forcibly away from Katharine, and every step vanquished her desire” ( Virginia Woolf). See Synonyms at defeat.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To conquer; overcome; especially, to subdue in battle, as an enemy.
- To defeat in any contest, as in argument; get the better of.
- To confute; show to be erroneous or unfounded; overturn.
- To overpower; prostrate; be too much for.
- To overpower the peculiar virtue or properties of; destroy or render inert; neutralize.
- = Syn. 1. Overcome, Subdue, etc. (see conquer), surmount, overthrow; rout, crush.
- n. A disease of sheep in which they pine away. Also vinquish.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To conquer, overcome, or subdue in battle, as an enemy.
- v. Hence, to defeat in any contest; to get the better of; to put down; to refute.
- n. (Far.) A disease in sheep, in which they pine away.
WordNet 3.0
- v. come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
Etymologies
- From Middle English vaynquisshen, from Old French vanquir, from Latin vincere. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English vaynquisshen, from Old French vainquir, vainquiss-, from Latin vincere; see weik-3 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“There's just too many references – like Tessa says, we're asking an audience in Los Angeles to know what "vanquish" and "lactating" mean, not to mention the Battle of Orleans, Joan of Arc, and the French.”
“There is no way to "vanquish" them except by means of temporary abatement.”
“If they do not vanquish food, food will vanquish them.”
“It was an act of self-defense in the face of blood-curdling threats to vanquish the Jewish state, not to mention the maritime blockade of the Straits of Tiran, the abrupt withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces, and the redeployment of Egyptian and Syrian troops.”
The Huffington Post: David Harris: Why History Matters: The 1967 Six-Day War
“As the nation flexed its full military might overseas for the first time, he joined 4.7 million Americans in uniform and was among 2 million U.S. troops shipped to France to vanquish the German kaiser.”
The Washington Post: Frank Buckles, last known World War I veteran, dies at 110
“I'm optimistic that we can vanquish polio forever if other countries choose to learn from India's success.”
The Huffington Post: Bill Gates: India Marks a Milestone for Child Health
“Indeed, they represent the struggle to vanquish empty desire, monsters that aid us in the war against the self.”
The Huffington Post: W. Scott Poole: Accepting The Monster Into Your Heart
“Photo No. 16 (featured above): If Timberlake were really a "Super Teen," surely he could vanquish that frightening, out-of-control mass of holiday garland.”
The Washington Post: Justin Timberlake: Flashback to some unfortunate, pre-'Social Network' photos
“It also took around 45 minutes of injury time at Hampden Park before we were able finally to vanquish pesky Liechtenstein.”
The Guardian: Another own goal for football's dummies | Kevin McKenna
“Now I must finish my beer and hopefully vanquish Mikeboy's moobs from my brain ...”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘vanquish’.
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Gene Wolfe
Please contribute your favorite words from any of Gene Wolfe’s books to this prize-winning list.
In case you come across words in this list which are too commonplace to fit in, please ...gallipot, roost, badelaire, oblesque, execration, dhole, amschaspand, arctother, chalcedony, penitence, asimi, autarch and 839 more...
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Brand Theft Auto
A marque list for cars--models or companies who've used common words as their name.
explorer, navigator, frontier, mustang, quest, cougar, sidekick, legend, legacy, ranger, voyager, civic and 266 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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(1st_wk_150)-Dec_5_2012
replete, steeped, eminent, indiscriminate, voracious, automaton, prognosticate, technology, abound, matron, tinge, compound and 297 more...
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Always heard but never QUITE knew
crass, sublimate, mien, cagey, expectoration, inexorable, vacillation, singular, interpolation, iconoclastic, belie, solipsist and 17 more...
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Words ending with sh
wash, zanyish, youngish, yokelish, yellowish, wormish, woosh, womanish, wolfish, wispish, wish, winish and 42 more...
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The Elegance of the Hedgehog 2013
eructation, hubris, vanquish, interminably, loge, a fortiori, virtuosity, incunabulum
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Verb ish
English verbs that end in -ish.
Most of these come from Old French stems that end in 'iss' like floriss-, brandiss-, distinguiss-, etc.
Exceptions are: Fish, Wish, Dish (f...flourish, brandish, vanish, astonish, perish, polish, nourish, famish, accomplish, admonish, banish, blemish and 24 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1834 more...
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A Refined Lexicon
ambivalence, ambivalent, equivocal, equivocation, equivocate, prevaricate, prevarication, quietude, quiescent, quiescence, vanquish, pluviosity and 137 more...
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Need to Know!
elicit, educe, refute, cogency, churlish, martinet, veritable, polyglot, dissemble, histrionics, prevarication, verbiage and 166 more...
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Vocabulary Words
words to reference while writing something
cohesive, epitome, tempered, imply, prudent, sundry, sagest, agitation, giddy, disposition, inclination, gracious and 114 more...
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slumry's Words
cattywampus, ingratiate, lackadaisical, exactitude, exfoliate, fulminate, circumnavigation, circuitous, debride, sidle, sequester, chicory and 1002 more...
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Caesar
Bellum Gallicum
encroach, vanquish, bid, assail, avail, surmount, coerce, discomfit, rout, noteworthy, subjugate, governance and 22 more...
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thekatespanos's list
pomposity, gaggle, scintilla, lemming, bilk, vanquish, conflate, plenary, verisimilitude, perspicacious, rattletrap, obdurate and 325 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for vanquish.
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