Overthrow, v. t. [imp. Overthrew; p. p. Overthrown; p. pr. & vb. n. Overthrowing.]
1. To throw over; to overturn; to upset; to turn upside down. His wife overthrew the table. Jer. Taylor.
2. To cause to fall or to fail; to subvert; to defeat; to make a ruin of; to destroy. When the walls of Thebes he overthrew. Dryden. [Gloucester] that seeks to overthrow religion. Shak.
Syn. -- To demolish; overturn; prostrate; destroy; ruin; subvert; overcome; conquer; defeat; discomfit; vanquish; beat; rout.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Overthrow, n.
1. The act of overthrowing; the state of being overthrow; ruin. Your sudden overthrow much rueth me. Spenser.
2. (a) (Baseball) The act of throwing a ball too high, as over a player's head. (b) (Cricket) A faulty return of the ball by a fielder, so that striker makes an additional run.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for overthrow; he lists it under abolish, conquer, demolish, exterminate, refute, subvert.
Where he writes about it:
Overthrow may be used in either a good or a bad sense; suppress is commonly in a good, subvert always in a bad sense; as, to subvert our liberties; to suppress a rebellion. — from abolish