Conquer

//ˈkɒŋkə// verb

verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To defeat in combat; to subjugate.

    "I lay in the desert beyond all cities and sounds, and above me flowed the River of Silence through the sky; and on the desert’s edge night fought against the Sun, and suddenly conquered."

  2. 2
    bring under control by force or authority wordnet
  3. 3
    To acquire by force of arms, win in war; to become ruler of; to subjugate.

    "In 1453, the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople."

  4. 4
    overcome by conquest wordnet
  5. 5
    To overcome an abstract obstacle.

    "Today I conquered my fear of flying by finally boarding a plane."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    take possession of by force, as after an invasion wordnet
  2. 7
    To gain, win, or obtain by effort. dated

    "to conquer freedom; to conquer a peace"

Synonyms

All synonyms
appropriatesuppressaccroachachieveacquireadopt

Antonyms

All antonyms
defeat

Example

More examples

"You must conquer your fear of the dark."

Etymology

From Middle English conqueren, from Old French conquerre, from Late Latin conquaerere (“to knock, strike; to search for, procure”), from Latin con- + quaerere (“to seek, acquire”). Displaced native Old English oferwinnan.

Related phrases

all-conqueringdivide and conquerlove conquers all

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.