OVERRUN • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Overrun

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/ˈoʊvərrˌən/ Listen

verb

Overrun v. t. (past overran; past part. overrun; pres. part. overrunning)

1.

To run over; to grow or spread over in excess; to invade and occupy; to take possession of; as, the vine overran its trellis; the farm is overrun with witch grass. "Those barbarous nations that overran the world."

2.

To exceed in distance or speed of running; to go beyond or pass in running. "Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi."

3.

To go beyond; to extend in part beyond; as, one line overruns another in length. Note: In machinery, a sliding piece is said to overrun its bearing when its forward end goes beyond it.

4.

To abuse or oppress, as if by treading upon. "None of them the feeble overran."

5.

(Print.)

(a)

To carry over, or back, as type, from one line or page into the next after, or next before.

(b)

To extend the contents of (a line, column, or page) into the next line, column, or page.

Overrun v. i. (past overran; past part. overrun; pres. part. overrunning)

1.

To run, pass, spread, or flow over or by something; to be beyond, or in excess. "Despised and trodden down of all that overran."

2.

(Print.) To extend beyond its due or desired length; as, a line, or advertisement, overruns.

See images of 'Overrun'

Etymology of 'Overrun'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Overrun" Quotes from Famous Books

... perilled all in the sacred cause for freedom. Never was there exhibited in the history of the world, higher examples of noble daring, dreadful suffering, and heroic endurance, than by the Whigs of Carolina during that Revolution. The whole State, from the mountain to the sea, was overrun by an overwhelming force of the enemy. The fruits of industry perished on the spot where they were produced, or were consumed by the foe. The "plains of Carolina" drank up the most precious blood of her citizens,—black and smoking ruins marked the places which had been the habitations ...

— The American Union Speaker • John D. Philbrick

... its reward." The older of Lot's two daughters had called her son that was conceived in guilt, Moab, "by the father," whereas the younger, for the sake of decency, called her son Ammon, "son of my people," and she was rewarded for her sense of propriety. For when Moses wanted to overrun the descendants of Lot with war, God said to him: "My plans differ from thine. Two doves shall spring from this nation, the Moabite Ruth and the Ammonite Naomi, and for this reason must these ...

— THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME III BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS - FROM THE EXODUS TO THE DEATH OF MOSES • BY LOUIS GINZBERG

... suppose that he must have made his way to the summit and seen it there. We know, therefore, that there is a way up. We know equally that it must be a very difficult one, otherwise the creatures would have come down and overrun the surrounding country. ...

— The Lost World • Arthur Conan Doyle

... Innumerable savage tribes have overrun all parts of Gaul. The whole country between the Alps and the Pyrenees, between the Rhine and the ocean, have been laid waste by Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans, Gepidi, Herules,(160) Saxons, Bergundians, Allemans and, ...

— A Source Book for Ancient Church History • Joseph Cullen Ayer, Jr., Ph.D.

... abundance, covering the ground like a moss-bed. A row of sunken dwarf willows borders the stream on one or both sides, while at a greater distance the meadow is skirted with maples, alders, and other fluviatile trees, overrun with the grape-vine, which bears fruit in its season, purple, red, white, and other grapes. Still farther from the stream, on the edge of the firm land, are seen the gray and white dwellings of the inhabitants. According ...

— A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers • Henry David Thoreau

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