What's the difference between overpower and subdue?

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.

Subdue


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To bring under; to conquer by force or the exertion of superior power, and bring into permanent subjection; to reduce under dominion; to vanquish.
  • (v. t.) To overpower so as to disable from further resistance; to crush.
  • (v. t.) To destroy the force of; to overcome; as, medicines subdue a fever.
  • (v. t.) To render submissive; to bring under command; to reduce to mildness or obedience; to tame; as, to subdue a stubborn child; to subdue the temper or passions.
  • (v. t.) To overcome, as by persuasion or other mild means; as, to subdue opposition by argument or entreaties.
  • (v. t.) To reduce to tenderness; to melt; to soften; as, to subdue ferocity by tears.
  • (v. t.) To make mellow; to break, as land; also, to destroy, as weeds.
  • (v. t.) To reduce the intensity or degree of; to tone down; to soften; as, to subdue the brilliancy of colors.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) So I am, of course, intrigued about the city’s newest tourist attraction: a hangover bar, open at weekends, in which sufferers can come in and have a bit of a lie down in soothingly subdued lighting, while sipping vitamin-enriched smoothies.
  • (2) Hopes that the Queen's diamond jubilee and the £9bn spent on the Olympics would lift sales over the longer term have largely been dashed as growth slows and the outlook, though robust with a growing order book, remains subdued.
  • (3) The director general of the CML, Paul Smee, said: "January is always a subdued month in the mortgage market but the underlying trend and strong year-on-year growth across all borrower groups indicates a strong start to 2014 continuing the sort of lending levels seen throughout 2013.
  • (4) England had started with some well-executed set piece moves, a triangular formation in midfield initially foxing Australia, but it was the Wallabies’ ability to react in open play that marked them out: Foley’s first try, after Israel Folau, otherwise subdued on the night, ran through Robshaw, came after he noticed Ben Youngs had drifted too wide and cut inside the scrum-half and Joe Launchbury before wrongfooting Brown.
  • (5) An investigation by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem concluded that while she did have a knife under her niqab veil she posed no threat to soldiers at the time she was shot and could have been subdued without being fatally wounded.
  • (6) In these cases, the woman’s wardrobe must feature subdued tones.
  • (7) Releasing its quarterly inflation report, the Bank's monetary policy committee admitted that the UK recession was deeper than previously thought and that inflation would stay very subdued for a long time – a signal that interest rates will not rise in the short term.
  • (8) He does not have the ingenuity of Diego Maradona or the lawless wit of Luis Suárez, so does not cast spells over opponents, but he has shown that he can certainly help subdue them and uplift his team.
  • (9) The company blamed the decline in performance on a challenging trading and competitive environment, ongoing subdued consumer sentiment and economic uncertainty, the effect of strong market capacity growth and an unrecovered $27m cost of the carbon tax.
  • (10) And we are hopeful that a recovery in productivity will keep firms' cost pressures subdued," its economists said in a research note.
  • (11) "However, one area of the market which is subdued is remortgaging – all the more surprising when you consider the excellent rates available and the threat of an interest rate rise.
  • (12) Examples included officers punching and using pepper spray on people who have already been subdued, including after they have been handcuffed and at times “as punishment for the person’s earlier verbal or physical resistance”.
  • (13) In the Alevi association, in this subdued but defiant campaign, Demirtaş looked past the cameras, his gaze static and distant, and seemed not to be there.
  • (14) Believing the suspect’s magazine was empty, he chased the gunman in hopes of subduing him.
  • (15) No, Mourinho always wants to win but the priority was certainly to hold the fort – and there is no better team in England when it comes to subduing high-calibre opponents.
  • (16) Forming a coalition will be challenging, while operational considerations must not be subordinate to political ones, Emile Hokayem of the International Institute for Strategic Studies told the Guardian: "A coalition in which sectarian Iraqi Shia militias play a key role because these are Baghdad's only or most reliable troops, or in which Kurdish fighters are asked to operate far from their territories, could antagonise the very constituency whose support against Isis is fundamental: the various local Sunni communities who have accommodated or been subdued by Isis."
  • (17) The crowd was initially subdued, having just seen Murray crash out and there were plenty of empty seats when the match began.
  • (18) It had begun as a subdued explosion, really, in the early 1960s, when a new generation of bohemians began to adapt and mutate the culture of the 'Beats' - Jack Kerouac et al - which had installed itself on North Beach during the late 1950s.
  • (19) A subdued Rosberg was in his shoulder-shrugging mood.
  • (20) The results indicate that the extent of DNA degradation to acid-soluble nucleotides is highest in chromatin at the early stages of gonad growth, being drastically subdued in the mature sperm cell.