区别辨析conquer、overcome、overthrow、defeat、beat与subdue

这些动词均含“征服、战胜”之意。

conquer : 侧重战胜和控制。书面用词。

  • The Spanish conquered the New World in the 16th century.
    西班牙人在16世纪征服了新大陆。
  • The English were conquered by the Normans in 1066.
    诺曼人于1066年征服了英格兰人。
  • He has finally conquered his fear of spiders.
    他终于战胜了对蜘蛛的恐惧。
  • It may be many years before this dreadful disease is conquered.
    要战胜这种可怕的疾病可能需要许多年。

overcome : 多指战胜或克服非物质的东西,如困难和不良习惯等。语气较弱也可指在斗争或竞争中战胜或压倒对方。

  • Juventus overcame Ajax in a thrilling game.
    在这场扣人心弦的比赛中,尤文图斯队战胜了阿贾克斯队。
  • to overcome difficulties/obstacles/problems/resistance
    克服困难/障碍/难题/阻力
  • Eventually she managed to overcome her shyness in class.
    她终于克服了上课时的羞怯。
  • 20,000 demonstrators sang "We shall overcome" as they marched through Washington.
    两万名示威者高唱着“我们会胜利”在华盛顿街头游行。

overthrow : 指彻底击败对手,使其丧失力量和地位。

  • He said that Allende's government in Chile was overthrown by the army and the CIA in 1973.
    他说智利的阿连德政府1973年是被军队和中央情报局推翻的。
  • The president was overthrown in a military coup.
    总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
  • That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.
    那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

defeat : 普通用词,多指在战争、比赛、竞选或辩论中战胜对手,侧重胜利的暂时性。

  • Napoleon was defeated by the Duke of Wellington at the battle of Waterloo.
    拿破仑在滑铁卢战役中被惠灵顿公爵击败。
  • They defeated the Italian team and reached the final.
    他们打败了意大利队,晋身决赛。
  • He defeated the champion in three sets.
    他三盘击败了冠军。

beat : 口笔语均可用,可与defeat换用。

  • Simon always beats me at tennis.
    西蒙打网球总是赢我。
  • Holland beat Belgium (by) 3–1.
    荷兰队3比1战胜比利时队。
  • The Miami Heat beat the Pacers 95-90/by five points.
    迈阿密热火队以95比90五分的优势击败了印第安纳步行者队。
  • Our team was comfortably/easily/soundly beaten in the first round of the competition.
    在第一轮比赛中我们队被对手轻松地/毫不费劲儿地/彻底打败了。
  • The Nationalists were narrowly beaten in the election.
    国民党人在地方选举中以微弱劣势落败。
  • He beat me fair and square (= without cheating).
    他光明磊落地击败了我。
  • They were beaten hands down (= completely) by their opponents.
    他们被对手彻底打败了。
  • She has beaten her own record of three minutes ten seconds.
    她打破了自己创造的3分10秒的纪录。

subdue : 正式用词,与conquer同义,但强调失败后的臣服状态;也可用作借喻,表克制、压抑感情、欲望等。

  • Troops were called in to subdue the rebels.
    军队被调来镇压反叛者。
  • Senior government officials admit they have not been able to subdue the rebels.
    政府高级官员承认他们还没能制服反叛者。
  • The fire burned for eight hours before the fire crews could subdue it.
    大火烧了8个小时后,消防队才控制住了火势。
  • He criticized the school for trying to subdue individual expression.
    他指责学校试图压制个性的自由表现。