Vanquish To overcome or subdue (an emotion, for example); suppress:

To render null and void, as a title; to frustrate, as hope; to deprive, as of an estate.

To resist with success; as, to defeat an assault.

Frustration by rendering null and void, or by prevention of success; as, the defeat of a plan or design.

a bitter thing, but it can also be a hopeful beginning

Something that is bitter only when swallowed.