Overthrow

//əʊvəˈθɹəʊ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A removal, especially of a ruler or government, by force or threat of force; usurpation. countable, uncountable

    "Once more I come to know of thee King Harry, / If for thy Ranſome thou wilt now compound, / Before thy moſt aſſured Ouerthrow: […]"

  2. 2
    A throw that goes too far.

    "[A]n energy shift accompanies the onset of emotion. Failure to recognize this can lead to disruptions in performance. A quarterback who fails to acknowledge his excitement in a big game is prone to countless overthrows until the excitement has subsided."

  3. 3
    the termination of a ruler or institution (especially by force) wordnet
  4. 4
    An act of throwing something to the ground; an overturning. archaic, countable, rare, uncountable
  5. 5
    A throw that goes too far.; A run scored by the batting side when a fielder throws the ball back to the infield, whence it continues to the opposite outfield.
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    the act of disturbing the mind or body wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To bring about the downfall of (a government, etc.), especially by force; to usurp. transitive

    "I hate the current government, but not enough to want to overthrow them."

  2. 2
    To throw (something) so that it goes too far. intransitive, transitive

    "He overthrew first base, for an error."

  3. 3
    rule against wordnet
  4. 4
    To throw down to the ground, to overturn. archaic, transitive

    "And he [Jesus] made a ſcourge off ſmale cordes / and drave thē all out off the temple / bothe ſhepe and oxen / ãd powred doune the changers money / and overthrue their tables."

  5. 5
    cause the downfall of; of rulers wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
collapseoverturnsubverttoppleupsetabout face

Antonyms

All antonyms
fall

Example

More examples

"Among the people of the colonies suffering under Earth's tyranny a force emerges intending to overthrow the status quo through terrorism."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English overthrowen, equivalent to over- + throw. Compare Dutch overdraaien, German überdrehen, Old English oferweorpan (“to overthrow”). For the noun sense, compare Middle English overthrow, overthrowe (“destruction, downfall”), from the verb.

Etymology 2

From over- + throw.

More for "overthrow"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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