overdrive

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English overdriven, from Old English oferdrīfan, equivalent to over- +‎ drive. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uurdrieuwe (“to overdo, overstate”), Dutch overdrijven (“to exaggerate”), German Low German overdrieven, överdrieven (“to overdo, exaggerate”), German übertreiben (“to overdo, exaggerate”), Norwegian overdrive (“to exaggerate”).

Verb

overdrive (third-person singular simple present overdrives, present participle overdriving, simple past overdrove, past participle overdriven)

1. (transitive) To drive too hard, or far, or beyond strength.

Etymology 2

From over- +‎ drive From the gear over "D" (drive) in an automatic transmission vehicle.

Noun

overdrive (countable and uncountable, plural overdrives)

1. (dated) A gear, on an automobile, higher than the normal top gear.
2. A state of heightened activity.
   • 2000, Salman Rushdie, The ground beneath her feet, page 78:

     It is true, though it's got nothing to do with me, that the building boom that created the Bombay of my childhood went into overdrive in the years before my birth

Synonyms

(abbreviation)

• OD
• O/D
• O.D. / O. D.

Coordinate terms

• 4th gear (in an automatic transmission vehicle)
• 5th gear (in a manual transmission vehicle)

Derived terms

• (abbreviation) O. D. / O.D. / O/D / OD

Translations

gear on an automobile

• Finnish: ylivaihde
• French: surmultipliée (fr) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: πέμπτη (el) (pémpti)
• Italian: sovrautilizzo m

state of heightened activity

• Finnish: ylikierrokset
• French: surrégime (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: υπερτάχυνση f (ypertáchynsi)

See also

• hyperdrive
• understeer
• oversteer

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

over- +‎ drive; after German übertreiben

Verb

overdrive (imperative overdriv, present tense overdriver, simple past overdrev or overdreiv, past participle overdrevet, present participle overdrivende)

1. to exaggerate (overstate, to describe more than is fact)

Derived terms

• overdrivelse

Related terms

• overdreven

References

• “overdrive” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

overdrive

1. neuter of overdriven