overrun

English

Etymology

over- +‎ run.

Pronunciation

• Verb:
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /əʊvəˈɹʌn/

    • Audio (UK)

      (file)

  • (US) IPA^(key): /oʊvəˈɹʌn/
• Noun:
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊvəˌɹʌn/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊvəˌɹʌn/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Verb

overrun (third-person singular simple present overruns, present participle overrunning, simple past overran, past participle overrun)

1. To defeat an enemy and invade in great numbers, seizing the enemy positions conclusively.
2. To infest, swarm over, flow over.

   The vine overran its trellis; the field is overrun with weeds.

   • 1633, Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande  […], Dublin: […] Sir James Ware; reprinted as A View of the State of Ireland […], Dublin: […] the Society of Stationers, […] Hibernian Press,  […] By John Morrison, 1809:

     those barbarous nations that over-ran the world

   • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     As President Obama turns his attention once again to filling out a cabinet and writing an Inaugural Address, this much is clear: he should not expect to bask in a surge of national unity, or to witness a crowd of millions overrun the Mall just to say they were there.

3. To run past; to run beyond.

   The athlete overran the finish line and kept going.

   One line overruns another in length.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 2 Samuel 18:23:

     Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.

   • 1961 March, “Talking of trains”, in Trains Illustrated, page 138:

     The collision occurred when an up empty electric train travelling on the up main through line overran the inner home signal and rammed the side of the departing 6.14 p.m. Waterloo-Weymouth steam train, which was leaving platform 12 for the down main through line.

4. To continue for too long.

   The performance overran by ten minutes, which caused some people to miss their bus home.

5. (printing) To carry (some type, a line or column, etc.) backward or forward into an adjacent line or page.
6. To go beyond; to extend in part beyond.

   In machinery, a sliding piece is said to overrun its bearing when its forward end goes beyond it.

7. To abuse or oppress, as if by treading upon.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book V, canto II, stanza 9:

     None of them the feeble overren.

Translations

to defeat an enemy and invade in great numbers

• Dutch: onder de voet lopen, overstromen (nl)

to infest, swarm over

• Dutch: onder de voet lopen, overrompelen (nl), zwermen over, overstromen (nl)
• Maori: pokipoki, kōwaowao

• Portuguese: infestar (pt)
• Swedish: översvämma (sv)
• Turkish: istila etmek (tr)

to run past, exceed

• Dutch: overschijden, voorbijlopen (nl), inhalen (nl)

to readjust by shifting the excess letter(s) to the next line

to continue for too long

• Dutch: te lang doorbijlopen

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Catalan: ^{(please verify)} excedir (ca), ^{(please verify)} envair (ca)
• French: ^{(please verify)} exceder (fr)

• German: ^{(please verify)} überrennen (de)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} exceder (es), ^{(please verify)} rebasar (es), ^{(please verify)} invadir (es)

Noun

overrun (countable and uncountable, plural overruns)

1. An instance of overrunning.
   • 2013 June 18, Simon Romero, “Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     Some of the stadiums being built for the World Cup soccer tournament, scheduled for next year, have also been criticized for delays and cost overruns, and have become subjects of derision as protesters question whether they will become white elephants.

   • December 13 2021, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger and Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in Time Magazine‎^[3]:

     Tesla’s first decade was plagued by unmet deadlines, technical snafus and cost overruns.

2. The amount by which something overruns.

   At least this year's overrun isn't as unmanageable as last year!

3. (aviation) An area of terrain beyond the end of a runway that is kept flat and unobstructed to allow an aircraft that runs off the end of the runway to stop safely.

   The runway has 7,000 feet of paved surface, plus a 2,000-foot grass overrun.

4. (food) Air that is whipped into a frozen dessert to make it easier to serve and eat.
   • 2004, Wayne Gisslen, Professional Baking, page 497:

     If ice cream has too much overrun, it will be airy and foamy and will lack flavor.

Synonyms

(area beyond a runway end):

• runway safety area
• stopway

Translations

instance of overrunning

• Dutch: overrompeling (nl), overschrijding (nl), overstroming (nl)

amount by which something overruns

• Dutch: overschrijding (nl)

Anagrams

• run over, runover