overspeed

English

Etymology

From over- +‎ speed.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊ.vɚˌspid/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊ.vəˈspiːd/
• Hyphenation: over‧speed

Verb

overspeed (third-person singular simple present overspeeds, present participle overspeeding, simple past and past participle (mostly US) oversped or (mostly UK) overspeeded)

1. (intransitive) To travel excessively fast or beyond the permitted rate.
   • 1691, John Evelyn, Kalendarium Hortense:

     Caully-flowers over-speeding to pome and head..should be quite erradicated ^{[sic – meaning eradicated]}.

2. (usually transitive, sometimes intransitive, chiefly mechanics) To operate an engine or machine too fast.
   • 1949, A. C. Walshaw, Heat Engines (3 ed.):

     The device should be periodically tested by overspeeding the engine say once a month.

3. (India, intransitive) To speed; to drive a vehicle faster than the permitted speed limit.

Translations

to travel excessively fast

• Finnish: ajaa ylinopeutta

to operate a machine too fast

• Finnish: käyttää ylikierroksilla

Noun

overspeed (countable and uncountable, plural overspeeds)

1. Speed that exceeds a reasonable or permitted rate.
   • 1826, Samuel Weller Singer, The Dramatic Works Of William Shakespeare: Macbeth. Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark. King Lear...:

     Trashes are clogs strapped round the neck of a dog to prevent his overspeed.

   • 1961 July, “The Hymek Type 3 diesel locomotive for the Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 437:

     Protection devices are provided for engine and locomotive overspeed (maximum service speed is set at 90 m.p.h.); [...].

   • 2022 December 14, “Network News: RAIB issues briefing on emergency speed restrictions”, in RAIL, number 972, page 16:

     Investigating four 'overspeed' incidents during hot weather on July 18/19, RAIB discovered that confusion over where the BESRs [blanket emergency speed restrictions] started and finished, as well as the routes to which they applied, were contributory factors. […] There were no consequences from the overspeeds, [resulting from the BESRs] which had been put in place owing to danger of buckled rails.

Antonyms

• underspeed

Translations

speed that exceeds reasonable or permitted rate

• Finnish: ylinopeus (fi)

References

• “overspeed”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “overspeed”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “overspeed”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.