Succumb

Succumb
To lose the will to oppose something or to give up and accept something that you first opposed. In the context of illness, to succumb to an illness is to stop opposing it, to no longer battle it, but to die from it. Succumbing, like passing, has become a euphemism (an inoffensive substitute) for dying. As with many of our words, succumb came from Latin via France. In Latin "succumbere" means to fall down or yield. The French "succomber" crossed the Channel in the 1400s but the euphemistic sense of succumb as yielding to a disease dates only to about 1800.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • Succumb — Suc*cumb , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Succumbed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Succumbing}.] [L. succumbere; sub under + cumbere (in comp.), akin to cubare to lie down. See {Incumbent}, {Cubit}.] To yield; to submit; to give up unresistingly; as, to succumb under… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • succumb — [sə kum′] vi. [L succumbere < sub ,SUB + cumbere, nasalized form of cubare, to lie: see CUBE1] 1. to give way (to); yield; submit [to succumb to persuasion] 2. to die [to succumb to a plague] SYN. YIELD …   English World dictionary

  • succumb — UK US /səˈkʌm/ verb [I] FORMAL ► to lose the determination to oppose something, or to accept defeat: succumb to sth »The company succumbed to a $41bn bid from its arch rival …   Financial and business terms

  • succumb — I verb accede, acquiesce, be defeated, bend, bow, break down, capitulate, cave in, cease, collapse, come to naught, come to terms, comply, concede, die, droop, drop, end, expire, fail, fall, flag, give in, give way, go down, go under, knuckle… …   Law dictionary

  • succumb — late 15c., from M.Fr. succomber, from L. succumbere submit, sink down, lie under, from sub down (see SUB (Cf. sub )) + cumbere take a reclining position, related to cubare lie down (see CUBICLE (Cf. cubicle)). Originally transitive; sense of …   Etymology dictionary

  • succumb — *yield, submit, capitulate, relent, defer, bow, cave Analogous words: surrender, abandon, resign, *relinquish …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • succumb — [v] die or surrender accede, bow, break down, buckle, capitulate, cave, cave in*, cease, collapse, croak, decease, defer, demise, depart, drop, eat crow*, expire, fall, fall victim to, flake out*, fold, give in, give in to, give out, give up the… …   New thesaurus

  • succumb — ► VERB 1) fail to resist (pressure, temptation, etc.). 2) die from the effect of a disease or injury. ORIGIN Latin succumbere, from sub under + a verb related to cubare to lie …   English terms dictionary

  • succumb — v. (D; intr.) to succumb to (to succumb to smb. s urging; to succumb to a disease) * * * [sə kʌm] (D; intr.) to succumb to (to succumb to smb. s urging; to succumb to a disease) …   Combinatory dictionary

  • succumb — [[t]səkʌ̱m[/t]] succumbs, succumbing, succumbed 1) VERB If you succumb to temptation or pressure, you do something that you want to do, or that other people want you to do, although you feel it might be wrong. [FORMAL] [V to n] Don t succumb to… …   English dictionary

  • succumb — UK [səˈkʌm] / US verb [intransitive] Word forms succumb : present tense I/you/we/they succumb he/she/it succumbs present participle succumbing past tense succumbed past participle succumbed formal 1) to lose your ability to fight against someone… …   English dictionary

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