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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

overrun.

To defeat an enemy and invade in great numbers, seizing the enemy positions conclusively.

7 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˌəʊ.vəˈɹʌn/UK/ˌoʊ.vɚˈɹʌn/US
  1. To defeat an enemy and invade in great numbers, seizing the enemy positions conclusively.

    transitive
  2. To infest, swarm over, flow over.

    transitive
    The cathedral square was overrun with tourists.
    The vine overran its trellis; the field is overrun with weeds.
  3. To run past; to run beyond.

    transitive
    The athlete overran the finish line and kept going.
    One line overruns another in length.
  4. To run past; to run beyond. To run past the end of.

    transitive
    The aircraft didn't stop in time and overran the runway.
  5. To continue for too long.

    intransitive
    The performance overran by ten minutes, which caused some people to miss their bus home.
  6. To carry (some type, a line or column, etc.) backward or forward into an adjacent line or page.

    transitive
  7. To go beyond; to extend in part beyond.

    transitive
    In machinery, a sliding piece is said to overrun its bearing when its forward end goes beyond it.
  8. To abuse or oppress, as if by treading upon.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Old English ofer- Middle English over- English over- English run English overrun From over- + run.

noun/ˈəʊ.vəˌɹʌn/UK/ˈoʊ.vɚˌɹʌn/US
  1. An instance of overrunning.

    countable · uncountable
  2. An instance of overrunning. A turnover: a break to a new line by text flowing within the column.

    countable · uncountable
  3. The amount by which something overruns.

    countable · uncountable
    At least this year's overrun isn't as unmanageable as last year!
  4. 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.

    countable · uncountable
    The runway has 7,000 feet of paved surface, plus a 2,000-foot grass overrun.
  5. Air that is whipped into a frozen dessert to make it easier to serve and eat.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Old English ofer- Middle English over- English over- English run English overrun From over- + run.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.