exceed
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to be greater, as in quantity or degree.
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to surpass others; excel or be superior.
verb
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to be superior to (a person or thing), esp in size or quality; excel
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(tr) to go beyond the limit or bounds of
to exceed one's income
exceed a speed limit
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to be greater in degree or quantity than (a person or thing)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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exceedernoun
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unexceededadjective
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superexceedverb (used without object)
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unexceedableadjective
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exceedableadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has exceededperfect 3rd person singular
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have exceededperfect
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am exceedingprogressive 1st person singular
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are exceedingprogressive
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has been exceedingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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exceedssingular 3rd person
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is exceedingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been exceedingperfect progressive
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exceedingparticiple
Past
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had exceededperfect
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were exceedingprogressive plural
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had been exceedingperfect progressive
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exceededsimple
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exceededparticiple
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was exceedingprogressive singular
Future
Etymology
Origin of exceed
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English exceden, from Latin excēdere “to go out, go beyond”; equivalent to ex- 1 + cede
Explanation
To exceed is to go beyond expectations, or to go too far. If you exceed the speed limit, you might get a speeding ticket. Exceed and excess share the Latin root excedere meaning to "go beyond." An excess is too much of something, like the piles of candy after Halloween, and exceed means the action of going too far in a good or bad way. You exceed in school when you get straight A's. When Dr. Jekyll transforms into Mr. Hyde, he experiences "a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death." No thanks! It helps to remember that like speed, exceed ends with -eed.
Vocabulary lists containing exceed
Power Prefix: ex-
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The Bill of Rights
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 3
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
