verb
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to build over or on top of
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to erect too many buildings in (an area)
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to build too large or elaborately
Etymology
Origin of overbuild
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Brescia O’Rear said she is holding on to a little more cash these days, but the fears of a potential AI overbuild don’t keep her up at night.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
While it is true that memory prices are surging and major manufacturers haven’t significantly increased production or capital expenditures, history shows commodity chip suppliers always overbuild capacity at some point in the semiconductor cycle.
From Barron's ● Jan. 7, 2026
When you are in this quarterly apparel fashion business, you overbuild and you are discounting.
From The Verge ● Jul. 4, 2022
In response, a large body of exercise science shows, our bodies initiate a variety of cellular mechanisms that fix the tears and strains and, in most cases, overbuild the affected parts.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 7, 2022
“What the models said was dramatically overbuild solar, and either export it when you have excess production or curtailment,” said Edward Randolph, who leads the regulatory agency’s energy division.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2019
The bear case, on the other hand, is that the massive wave of AI infrastructure spending results in overbuilding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Still, investors remain concerned that Microsoft is overbuilding its AI capacity, which Moerdler believes is a “misunderstanding” of Microsoft’s business trajectory.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Expect lower home prices and a bigger risk of overbuilding in the decades ahead, according to a new study.
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
The ability to deliver power to solar infrastructure from space when those facilities need energy would allow developers to avoid overbuilding and save on capital investments, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026
And these technological therapies would have to be constructed, she said, so that they don’t invite their own side effects, like, say, overbuilding one neural network.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Meta’s plan to sell excess AI computing power stoked concerns that tech companies have overbuilt data-center capacity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Only an overbuilt city can offer tenants security and freedom.
From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2024
By the end, the playing space, like the once pristine frontier, is so overbuilt you can see little else.
From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2024
Banksy’s L.A. mural, 2010’s “Swing Girl,” is downtown, visible only from a deep alley between buildings — which is the point it makes about overbuilt places.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2024
On the immediate local front, reports showed that rental rates for apartments in Odessa had dropped 10 percent and occupancy rates 8 percent, boding disaster for a market that was woefully overbuilt from the boom.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
