capsize

[ kap-sahyz, kap-sahyz ]

verb (used with or without object)

, cap·sized, cap·siz·ing.

1. to turn bottom up; overturn: With a strong kick he capsized the stool.

   The ferry capsized and sank in minutes.

   With a strong kick he capsized the stool.

2. to upset or collapse: He has a secret that could capsize his career.

   Their marriage almost capsized when they lost their only child.

   He has a secret that could capsize his career.

capsize

/ kæpˈsaɪz /

verb

1. to overturn accidentally; upset

Derived Forms

• capˈsizal, noun

Other Words From

• capsiz·a·ble adjective
• noncap·siza·ble adjective
• un·capsiz·a·ble adjective
• un·capsized adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of capsize¹

First recorded in 1780–90; origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of capsize¹

C18: of uncertain origin

Synonym Study

See upset.

Example Sentences

At the apex of each leap, the whales barrel-roll, or capsize backward.

From Nautilus

Lacking power, the ship was driven shoreward toward rocks, rolling and pitching so uncontrollably it nearly capsized.

From Washington Post

One is tilted sideways and sinking like a capsized ship, while “Benefits of Isolation” is a prisonlike tower that looks like a model of a relic from a vanished civilization.

From Washington Post

NBC 7 reports that the County Medical Examiner’s Office has released the names of the three people who died Sunday after a “severely overcrowded” boat capsized in the waters off Point Loma.

From Voice of San Diego

They looked like toy ships on uncertain seas—heaving starboard, falling portside, too much in the bow, sinking in the stern—but they didn’t capsize.

From Outside Online

Q: Trying to overthrow the Constitution and deliberately capsize the U.S. economy?

From The Daily Beast

Men may refuse the challenge of trying to right a ship on the verge of capsize, preferring to wait for an easier test.

From The Daily Beast

I am grieved to say that Mr. Billings remarked, "Let's go aboard the blank, and capsize the whole blank trunk."

From Project Gutenberg

The pace became so hot that a small obstacle would capsize the sledge, causing it to roll over and over down the slope.

From Project Gutenberg

Now all hung by a hair, we could not manage the boat and it must inevitably capsize and be swamped under this foaming crest.

From Project Gutenberg

Kiv-i-ung, who had never abused the boy, had gone out with the rest, but his kayak did not capsize.

From Project Gutenberg

He was a good swimmer, but he knew well that were his canoe to capsize he could not hope to survive long in these cold waters.

From Project Gutenberg