overreach

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb

To reach above or beyond, especially to an excessive degree.
To defeat or override a person's interest in property; (British, specifically) of a holder of the legal title of real property: by mortgaging or selling the legal title to a third party, to cause another person's equitable right in the property to be dissolved and to be replaced by an equitable right in the money received from the third party.
To do something beyond an appropriate limit, or beyond one's ability; to overextend.
Of a horse: to strike the heel of a forefoot with the toe of a hindfoot.
To deceive, to swindle.
To sail on one tack farther than is necessary.
To get the better of, especially by artifice or cunning; to outwit.

noun

An act of extending or reaching over, especially if too far or too much; overextension.
Of a horse: an act of striking the heel of a forefoot with the toe of a hindfoot; an injury caused by this action.

Pronunciation

/ˌəʊvəˈɹiːt͡ʃ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-overreach2.wav /ˌoʊvə(ɹ)ˈɹit͡ʃ/ /ˈəʊvə(ˌ)ɹiːt͡ʃ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-overreach1.wav /ˈoʊvə(ɹ)ˌɹit͡ʃ/

Word forms

overreach overreaches overreaching overreached overraught

Etymology

The verb is from Middle English overrechen (“to rise above; to extend beyond or over; to encroach; to catch, overtake; to reach; to obtain wrongfully (?); to take up (a book) to revise it”) [and other forms], equivalent to over- + reach; the noun is derived from the verb or from the phrase to reach over.

Synonyms

exceed excel forpass go beyond outcompass outstep outstrip overgo overpass overreach overstep overstride surpass transgress transcend trespass cheat defraud abuse beglammer counterfeit deceive dissemble dissimulate feign jiff lead astray put on spoof sham trick

Derived words

overreacher overreaching overreachingly overreach boot

Translations

Arabic: أَنَافَ Arabic: غَلَا Arabic: نَيَّفَ Arabic: تَطَاوَلَ Bulgarian: надминавам Bulgarian: надхвърлям German: überschreiten German: über etwas hinausgehen Italian: oltrepassare Māori: whakakaiawe Spanish: extralimitarse

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

Back to search All on O Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary