All 9 Uses of
surmount
in
Frankenstein - 1831 version
- The ascent is precipitous, but the path is cut into continual and short windings, which enable you to surmount the perpendicularity of the mountain.†
p. 100.4 *surmount = overcome
- Before, dark and opaque bodies had surrounded me, impervious to my touch or sight; but I now found that I could wander on at liberty, with no obstacles which I could not either surmount or avoid.†
p. 105.5
- But that cannot be; the human senses are insurmountable barriers to our union.†
p. 148.0insurmountable = not able to be overcomestandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in insurmountable means not and reverses the meaning of surmountable. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
- The latter method of obtaining the desired intelligence was dilatory and unsatisfactory; besides, I had an insurmountable aversion to the idea of engaging myself in my loathsome task in my father's house while in habits of familiar intercourse with those I loved.†
p. 157.6
- I saw an insurmountable barrier placed between me and my fellow men; this barrier was sealed with the blood of William and Justine, and to reflect on the events connected with those names filled my soul with anguish.†
p. 163.7
- We passed rapidly along; the sun was hot, but we were sheltered from its rays by a kind of canopy while we enjoyed the beauty of the scene, sometimes on one side of the lake, where we saw Mont Saleve, the pleasant banks of Montalegre, and at a distance, surmounting all, the beautiful Mont Blanc and the assemblage of snowy mountains that in vain endeavour to emulate her; sometimes coasting the opposite banks, we saw the mighty Jura opposing its dark side to the ambition that would quit its native country, and an almost insurmountable barrier to the invader who should wish to enslave it.†
p. 196.9surmounting = overcoming
- We passed rapidly along; the sun was hot, but we were sheltered from its rays by a kind of canopy while we enjoyed the beauty of the scene, sometimes on one side of the lake, where we saw Mont Saleve, the pleasant banks of Montalegre, and at a distance, surmounting all, the beautiful Mont Blanc and the assemblage of snowy mountains that in vain endeavour to emulate her; sometimes coasting the opposite banks, we saw the mighty Jura opposing its dark side to the ambition that would quit its native country, and an almost insurmountable barrier to the invader who should wish to enslave it.†
p. 197.0insurmountable = not able to be overcomestandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in insurmountable means not and reverses the meaning of surmountable. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
- Cold, want, and fatigue were the least pains which I was destined to endure; I was cursed by some devil and carried about with me my eternal hell; yet still a spirit of good followed and directed my steps and when I most murmured would suddenly extricate me from seemingly insurmountable difficulties.†
p. 207.5
- We were immured in ice and should probably never escape, but they feared that if, as was possible, the ice should dissipate and a free passage be opened, I should be rash enough to continue my voyage and lead them into fresh dangers, after they might happily have surmounted this.†
p. 217.1
Definitions:
-
(1)
(surmount) overcome (to successfully deal with an obstacle)
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) More rarely, surmount may mean to get on top of, be on top of, or reach the highest point of.