succumb

American  

[suh-kuhm] / səˈkʌm /

verb (used without object)

1. to give way to superior force; yield.

   to succumb to despair.

   Synonyms:

   surrender, accede, submit

2. to yield to disease, wounds, old age, etc.; die.

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succumb British  

/ səˈkʌm /

verb

1. to give way in face of the overwhelming force (of) or desire (for)

2. to be fatally overwhelmed (by disease, old age, etc); die (of)

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Other Word Forms

• succumber noun
• unsuccumbing adjective

Etymology

Origin of succumb

First recorded in 1480–90; from Latin succumbere, from suc- suc- + -cumbere (derivative of cubāre “to lie down, recline”); incumbent

Example Sentences

He’d done well to ignore his mounting thirst and exhaustion today, and he certainly wouldn’t succumb to them now, when they were so close to the finish line.

From Literature

There’s no need for an app!—I discovered I’d already inadvertently succumbed.

From The Wall Street Journal

The siblings, who succumbed to smoke inhalation, were found in the living room about seven feet apart.

From Los Angeles Times

There was Kent Brantly, 27, a family physician who, owing to the grueling hours and oppressive African heat, had lost 30 pounds even before he succumbed to hemorrhagic fevers.

From The Wall Street Journal

He kept the diagnosis secret from everyone but Strickland, eventually succumbing to the disease in October 1985.

From BBC

Related Words

• bow
• break down
• buckle
• capitulate
• cave in
• cease
• defer
• give in
• give way
• go down
• pass away
• perish
• quit
• wilt
• yield