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。
