overturn (n.)

  1. the act of upsetting something; he was badly bruised by the upset of his sled at a high speed

    [ Syn: upset , turnover ]

  2. an improbable and unexpected victory; the biggest upset since David beat Goliath

    [ Syn: upset ]

    overturn (v.)

  1. turn from an upright or normal position; The big vase overturned; The canoe tumped over

    [ Syn: turn over , tip over , tump over ]

  2. cause to overturn from an upright or normal position; The cat knocked over the flower vase; the clumsy customer turned over the vase; he tumped over his beer

    [ Syn: tip over , turn over , upset , knock over , bowl over , tump over ]

  3. rule against; The Republicans were overruled when the House voted on the bill

    [ Syn: overrule , override , overthrow , reverse ]

  4. cause the downfall of; of rulers; The Czar was overthrown; subvert the ruling class

    [ Syn: overthrow , subvert , bring down ]

  5. cancel officially; He revoked the ban on smoking; lift an embargo; vacate a death sentence

    [ Syn: revoke , annul , lift , countermand , reverse , repeal , rescind , vacate ]

  6. change radically; E-mail revolutionized communication in academe

    [ Syn: revolutionize , revolutionise ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.