surpass
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle French surpasser (“to pass beyond”). Surface etymology is sur- + pass. Displaced native Old English oferstīgan (literally “to climb over”).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
surpass (third-person singular simple present surpasses, present participle surpassing, simple past and past participle surpassed)
- (transitive) To go beyond or exceed (something) in an adjudicative or literal sense.
- The former problem student surpassed his instructor's expectations and scored top marks on his examination.
- The heavy rains threatened to surpass the capabilities of the levee, endangering the town on the other side.
- 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Tremarn Case[1]:
- “Two or three months more went by; the public were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this semi-exotic claimant to an English peerage, and sensations, surpassing those of the Tichbourne case, were looked forward to with palpitating interest. […] ”
- 2021 May 2, Emma Sanders, “Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 Sheffield United”, in BBC Sport[2]:
- He celebrated at full-time with a beaming smile as he collected the match ball and he notched up another milestone by becoming the sixth Welshman to surpass 50 Premier League goals.
SynonymsEdit
- (to go beyond): exceed, forpass, transcend; see also Thesaurus:transcend
- (in a metaphoric or technical manner): exceed, excel, outdo, outstrip; see also Thesaurus:exceed
TranslationsEdit
to exceed
Further readingEdit
- surpass in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- surpass in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- surpass at OneLook Dictionary Search