overhaul
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make necessary repairs on; restore to serviceable condition.
My car was overhauled by an expert mechanic.
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to investigate or examine thoroughly for repair or revision.
Next year we're going to overhaul the curriculum.
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to gain upon, catch up with, or overtake, as in a race.
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to haul or turn over for examination.
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Nautical.
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to slacken (a rope) by hauling in the opposite direction to that in which the rope was drawn taut.
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to release the blocks of (a tackle).
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noun
verb
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to examine carefully for faults, necessary repairs, etc
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to make repairs or adjustments to (a car, machine, etc)
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to overtake
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has overhauledperfect 3rd person singular
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have overhauledperfect
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am overhaulingprogressive 1st person singular
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is overhaulingprogressive 3rd person singular
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overhaulingparticiple
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are overhaulingprogressive
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has been overhaulingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been overhaulingperfect progressive
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overhaulssingular 3rd person
Past
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had overhauledperfect
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were overhaulingprogressive plural
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was overhaulingprogressive singular
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overhauledparticiple
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had been overhaulingperfect progressive
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overhauledsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of overhaul
Explanation
To overhaul is to completely renovate, making major changes in order to repair. A few shutters and a new coat of paint won't come close to fixing that old, boarded-up house — it needs a complete overhaul. Back in the 1620s when the word was coined, overhaul described examining a fishing net to make sure there were no tears or big holes that would keep the fisherman from getting a big haul, or large amount of fish. Today, an overhaul is usually the result of such a close examination — like the overhaul that some people want to make to American public schools, or the overhaul an old car needs to keep it on the road.
Vocabulary lists containing overhaul
This Week in Words: November 26 - December 1, 2017
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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.
New qualifications were introduced from September 2025, part of a major overhaul of the school curriculum.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
Apple unveiled an artificial intelligence overhaul for the iPhone on Monday, turning to Google for help two years after the company stumbled on a first attempt.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
The 2026 Siri overhaul aims to turn Apple’s virtual assistant into an AI agent, complete with a separate Siri app similar to what chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude have.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 2026
For now, the overhaul represents a quiet but notable shift in how one of the country’s largest institutions organizes one of its most personal categories: belief.
From Salon • Jun. 6, 2026
He’d led an overhaul of state campaign finance laws that ushered in stricter ethics rules for elected officials.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
