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If the idea of someone succumbing brings to mind the image of a person lying down before more powerful forces, you have an excellent grasp of the Latin that gave English succumb. Succumb derives from the French word succomber, which is itself from the Latin word succumbere, meaning "to fall down" or "to yield." Succumbere was formed by combining sub-, meaning "under," with -cumbere, meaning "to lie down." The earliest application of succumb in the late 15th century was as a transitive verb meaning "to bring down" or "to overwhelm," but this sense is now obsolete. The current sense of "to yield" first appeared in print in the early 17th century; the more specific use—yielding to a disease or other destructive force—followed decades later.
Examples of succumb in a Sentence
Colin Thubron, New York Times Book Review, 9 Apr. 2009
Last spring, the Knight Ridder chain succumbed to pressure from its largest private investor and sold off its entire lineup of 32 papers to the McClatchy Co. for more than $4 billion.
—Eric Klinenberg, Mother Jones, March/April 2007
Yet after Paul died in 1978 and his successor John Paul I succumbed to a heart attack only 34 days into his papacy, Wojyla was so oblivious to his impending fate that he spent the first day of the new papal conclave nonchalantly browsing through a quarterly review of Marxist theory.
—David Van Biema, Time, 11 Apr. 2005
Interviews with cadets, police officers and investigators trying to crack down on crime inside Mexico City's 80,000-officer force revealed that even the most earnest cops often succumb to the temptations that are both plentiful and low risk.
—Alan Zarembo, Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2000
They will pressure you, and you must try not to succumb.
he finally succumbed and let his wife get rid of his dilapidated easy chair
Blake D. Morant, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
Some leaders recently have succumbed to such efforts and paid the piper, while others have resisted.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 7 July 2025
All four individuals succumbed to their injuries, according to NBC Chicago.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 3 July 2025
Two others who were transported to the hospital from the factory with burns also reportedly succumbed to their injuries.
—Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 1 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for succumb
Cite this Entry
“Succumb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/succumb. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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succumb
verb
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