overdrive
To drive too hard, or far, or beyond strengthTo drive too hard, or far, or beyond strength.
Recorded UK: Speaker: Vealhurl Recorder: Vealhurl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Tom's hyperactive imagination went into overdrive.
CM · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 sensesTo drive too hard, or far, or beyond strength.
drive or work too hard
Examples
6 sentencesTom's hyperactive imagination went into overdrive.
The hype machine remains in overdrive.
Tom's incendiary speech kicked the revolution into overdrive.
The revolution kicked into overdrive.
Ziri's mind went into overdrive.
Origin
From Middle English overdriven, from Old English oferdrīfan, equivalent to over- + drive.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”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
overdrives, overdriving, overdrove, overdriven| Base form | overdrive · to overdrive |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | overdrives |
| Present participle | overdriving |
| Past simple | overdrove |
| Past participle | overdriven |
irregular · Lesson
Synonyms
1 synonyms- make use of too often or too extensively:overuse
Lessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, irregular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.