as in conquest
the act or process of bringing someone or something under one's control
a movie about the vanquishing of Egypt by Rome
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in conquering
to bring under one's control by force of arms
vanquished nation after nation in his relentless conquest of Europe
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of vanquishing
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 16 Jan. 2026
James Hansen, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026
And despite being massively outnumbered and outgunned, Royce led the takedown of four enemy jets and almost destroyed the others, vanquishing his adversaries while taking 263 bullets to his own plane and being seriously hurt.
—Time Staff, Time, 25 Feb. 2026
Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018) Bruce Campbell returns to the role he was born to play in this comedy-horror series 30 years after vanquishing body-possessing demons in The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987), and Army of Darkness (1992).
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Feb. 2026
However, once Hernán Cortés triumphed, the conquistadors went from waging war — vanquishing the Aztecs — to the project of subjugating Indigenous holdouts and building a self-sustaining territory loyal to the crown.
—Foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026
Moments later, with a midair tribute to the dunking style of Karl Malone, Johnson was inflight over E-40 and on the way to vanquishing Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxon Hayes and Orlando Magic rookie guard Jase Richardson in the first round.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 15 Feb. 2026
One showed martial-arts legend Bruce Lee vanquishing a roomful of opponents.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 6 Feb. 2026
Their 1995 album has the rickety punk sound of suburban nightmares, jagged landslides of noise for vanquishing all the dread, real and imagined, just outside their windows.
—Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2025
China’s Alibaba was launched in 1999 and three years later took on eBay, soon vanquishing the American company on its home turf.
—Rich Karlgaard, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Noun
But for others who have been part of the fabric of UM’s rich football history, witnessing Miami’s vanquishing of Texas A&M, Ohio State and Mississippi was a quite different experience, one enjoyed in different pockets of the country, often best without distractions.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 16 Jan. 2026
Verb
And as Siniaková showed emotion of her own in the joy of vanquishing such a favorite, Andreeva started her walk out of the stadium that would end in cursing and acrimony.
—James Hansen, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026
And despite being massively outnumbered and outgunned, Royce led the takedown of four enemy jets and almost destroyed the others, vanquishing his adversaries while taking 263 bullets to his own plane and being seriously hurt.
—Time Staff, Time, 25 Feb. 2026
Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018) Bruce Campbell returns to the role he was born to play in this comedy-horror series 30 years after vanquishing body-possessing demons in The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987), and Army of Darkness (1992).
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Feb. 2026
However, once Hernán Cortés triumphed, the conquistadors went from waging war — vanquishing the Aztecs — to the project of subjugating Indigenous holdouts and building a self-sustaining territory loyal to the crown.
—Foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026
Moments later, with a midair tribute to the dunking style of Karl Malone, Johnson was inflight over E-40 and on the way to vanquishing Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxon Hayes and Orlando Magic rookie guard Jase Richardson in the first round.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 15 Feb. 2026
One showed martial-arts legend Bruce Lee vanquishing a roomful of opponents.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 6 Feb. 2026
Their 1995 album has the rickety punk sound of suburban nightmares, jagged landslides of noise for vanquishing all the dread, real and imagined, just outside their windows.
—Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2025
China’s Alibaba was launched in 1999 and three years later took on eBay, soon vanquishing the American company on its home turf.
—Rich Karlgaard, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vanquishing
Noun
-
Away from the obvious icons lie natural wonders where ecology, history, and culture remain tightly interwoven, and where human presence has often been defined by restraint rather than conquest.—
Rob Crossan,
Condé Nast Traveler,
22 Apr. 2026
-
Morris scooped the world in 1953 with the news of the British expedition’s conquest of Everest.—
The Week UK,
TheWeek,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Built by Blueprint Construction with structural engineering by Design Point, the East River Residence demonstrates that conquering challenging terrain sometimes means floating above it.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
23 Apr. 2026
-
One after another, the avatars of Democratic success in Georgia took the stage Saturday and were greeted like conquering heroes by hundreds of party faithful at the annual Carter-Lewis gala.—
Greg Bluestein,
AJC.com,
12 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Despite dominating possession – the Quakes finished with a 37-6 edge in shots – the Black and Blue weren’t able to equalize until Jasinski’s towering header off a corner kick from Niko Tsakiris in the 57th minute.—
Harold Gutmann,
Mercury News,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Brimming with confidence, Palencia then emerged as the dominating closer during Team Venezuela’s emotional run to a World Baseball Classic title.—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The defense was more than satisfactory in subduing the league’s top offense.—
Jace Frederick,
Twin Cities,
19 Apr. 2026
-
Mario himself is played mostly straight by Pratt, subduing the exaggerated Italian accent from the games, while retaining the underdog aspect of a blue collar guy burdened with greater purpose.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Many Indians and students of colonialism see it as a symbol of the British Empire and the domination and plunder of imperialism.—
Emma Caughlan,
NBC news,
30 Apr. 2026
-
That Dalglish’s vast contribution in Liverpool’s domination of English football over the previous decade would have helped him in sticky spots is a reminder that Slot has little to fall back on.—
Simon Hughes,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
For the first time, balls and strikes can now be challenged, subjecting the fundamental building block of the game to review.—
Sean McIndoe,
New York Times,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The 49-year-old from Carver, Massachusetts is accused of running a dogfighting operation for years; breeding and training dogs for violence and subjecting the animals to disturbing and cruel conditions and punishment.—
Juli McDonald,
CBS News,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
In large part because the only feeling more satisfying than defeating your enemies is that of defeating your friends.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
25 Apr. 2026
-
When the Lakers last came to Houston, defeating the Rockets twice in three days, Rockets coach Ime Udoka appeared to tell Redick to put Bronny James in the game.—
Benjamin Royer,
Oc Register,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
More Than One Way to Survive in Business Entrepreneurs have been positioned to accept that overcoming the competition is the only way to succeed in business, but there may be other paths forward.—
Daniel Fusch,
USA Today,
1 May 2026
-
The Blackbeard project aims to achieve all this while overcoming the obstacles that have hindered previous attempts at hypersonic weaponry.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Vanquishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vanquishing. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
