What's the difference between overbear and overpower?

Overbear


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To bear down or carry down, as by excess of weight, power, force, etc.; to overcome; to suppress.
  • (v. t.) To domineer over; to overcome by insolence.
  • (v. i.) To bear fruit or offspring to excess; to be too prolific.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Her childhood - split between a boisterous outdoorsiness and an intense inner life - was dominated by her overbearing mother, with whom she fought "steadily but reluctantly" until her death.
  • (2) "[In the] last farm bill debate in 2008, Rep Earl Blumenauer heroically tried to force a vote on food aid reform, but was quashed by an overbearing rules committee, which wouldn't permit him to offer the amendment.
  • (3) The ditziness, the choice between the good man and the bad boy (Darcy and Cleaver), the overbearing parents all seemed infantilising.
  • (4) But the British institutions can still provide obstacles to overbearing Prime Ministers.
  • (5) It's about a child star and his overbearing parents and his agent and the studio, lawyers, therapists, everything.
  • (6) "Transplanting the Pirates Of The Caribbean aesthetic to the Wild Wild West proves disastrous in The Lone Ranger, an indigestible swill of forced humour and oversized, overbearing action sequences," he writes.
  • (7) "The state remains as bloated, overbearing and inefficient as ever.
  • (8) The heroic supposition appears to be that an overbearing state is somehow suppressing entrepreneurial spirit in areas such as the north-east, and that private enterprise will naturally burst forth once the public sector is cut down to size.
  • (9) The atmosphere inside the grounds has been good, even if Fifa's corporatism can be overbearing.
  • (10) Scotland would be a counterweight to London's huge, overbearing influence over the British economy.
  • (11) He never got on with his overbearing mother, Rosalind, but idealised his father Edward, who, as captain of the former passenger steamer Rawalpindi, had gone down with his ship and 263 men after the attack by the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst in November 1939.
  • (12) The alternative is that they'll be exactly like their online personas – overbearing and needy and desperate to react to everything with a tedious one-liner.
  • (13) Overbearing, ostentatious, and incongruous, don't you think?"
  • (14) To the authorities in Zug and Zurich, Rich was a victim of an overbearing US prosecutorial system - a system that had overreached itself in trying to have him extradited from Switzerland.
  • (15) Lyrically it is a bit overbearing, and there’s no mention of food or vodka, which is a bit strange.
  • (16) He wants recognition and respect from the international community, just as he wanted it (and probably did not get it) from his overbearing father and dysfunctional mafia family.
  • (17) Part of Manning's motivation, the defence has argued, was that he believed the US government to be overbearingly secretive, but again the prosecutors contend that is irrelevant to the question of his guilt or innocence.
  • (18) I found Mr Mitchell’s tone overbearing, but he did not swear at us.
  • (19) McKillop tried to defend his own tenure on the board, insisting Goodwin had not been overbearing and that the ABN deal was agreed by the entire board.
  • (20) In Out Of Place (1999), the memoir of his childhood and youth, Said described his father, who called himself William to emphasise his adopted American identity, as overbearing and uncommunicative.

Overpower


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To excel or exceed in power; to cause to yield; to vanquish; to subdue; as, the light overpowers the eyes.
  • (n.) A dominating power.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) This set was called by the authors a syndrome reflecting an overpowering, but latent, unconscious sense of crisis, of a catastrophe ("Catastrophe-syndrome").
  • (2) Preliminary murder charges have been lodged against two men – both students at Islamic religious schools, who were arrested at the scene after being overpowered by bystanders – and against a third assailant who fled and has yet to be found, an officer said.
  • (3) After seeing my status one man wrote to me that he wants to be positive but “feels overpowered by a nightmare existence”.
  • (4) Lung reflexes in the fibrotic rabbits were more profoundly changed than eupneic breathing in a way that could be interpreted as slowly adapting receptor activity, which was increased, being overpowered by a prepotent input from pulmonary rapidly adapting receptors.
  • (5) It was flattering, appropriate (despite inevitable "oo-er, heels at a sports event" comments in the media) and, crucially, the look was not overpowered by Obama's mustard cashmere cardigan – although she was as ebullient and as natural as we have come to expect.
  • (6) Old plastic supermarket bags clog the ground under the platform stilts and the smell of sewage is overpowering.
  • (7) Rowena Mason (@rowenamason) Eleanor Laing says she will stand up for backbenchers against overpowering governments of any political stripe #deputyspeakerhustings October 15, 2013 Rowena Mason (@rowenamason) Simon Burns says he standing for deputy speaker because he is fully qualified and would be "firm with a light touch" #deputyspeakerhustings October 15, 2013 Rowena Mason (@rowenamason) Simon Burns says it is an elephant in the room that he and the speaker are "not the greatest of personal friends" #hustings #dwarfgate October 15, 2013 Rowena Mason (@rowenamason) Simon burns says not behind twitter account in his name +wouldn't know how to "tweet I think it is called".
  • (8) ☞ Jimmy Cowan of Aston Villa overpowering the great Steve Bloomer in 1897!
  • (9) French authorities were questioning Khazani at their counter-terrorism headquarters outside Paris as remarkable details continued to emerge of how the heavily armed gunman was overpowered by passengers on the train in France .
  • (10) Cascades of golden light overpower the sun, rising from a jumble of massive titanium forms piled on top of each other, part train crash and part explosion in a bullion vault.
  • (11) There are, however, overpowering reasons to be cynical about these particular politicians making this pitch at this particular time.
  • (12) We could have overpowered the insurgents, but there was no[t] enough ammunition,” said one army officer who was present, speaking to Nigeria’s Premium Times , in an admission that symbolises everything that is wrong with Nigeria’s military-led counter-terrorism approach.
  • (13) Moreover, the other tactics used to gain children's compliance, such as overpowering them, suddenly grabbing their genitals, and attacking them in their sleep, appeared to seriously compromise children's autonomy and personal integrity.
  • (14) "Beware lest amidst men the flame of foolish ignorance overpowers you."
  • (15) Others, including the Liberal Democrats, who caution that marketisation must not overpower democratisation, might worry about hospitals being taken out of elected hands.
  • (16) It is the reason why we've been able to overpower the iron fist of fascism, outlast the iron curtain of communism, and enlist free nations and free people everywhere in common cause and common effort.
  • (17) There was such an overpowering reaction to the footage, you sort of feel like, ‘Oh, so we weren’t crazy for our reasons for loving this character, for loving this role’,” he told the Niagara Falls Review .
  • (18) Faith has played a very important role in our fight to end this virus, while our brothers and sisters have died and are still dying, while others are still being infected, while our freedom has been reduced, while we are suffering, starving, while many have been stigmatised and traumatised, many lost their livelihoods, even when fear overpowers us, we have hung on to our faith, because we are people of faith.
  • (19) Done correctly, with pace and precision, Dortmund’s game can overpower the best of teams, as Real Madrid and Bayern can testify from recent experiences.
  • (20) "The soldiers were overpowered after they arrived in the square.

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