oversupply

[ noun oh-ver-suh-plahy; verb oh-ver-suh-plahy ]
See synonyms for: oversupplyoversuppliedoversupplying on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural o·ver·sup·plies.
  1. an excessive supply.

verb (used with object),o·ver·sup·plied, o·ver·sup·ply·ing.
  1. to supply in excess.

Origin of oversupply

1
First recorded in 1825–35; over- + supply1

Words Nearby oversupply

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use oversupply in a sentence

  • Last week, I talked about the oversupply of lawyers, and other graduate students.

    The Future of the MD | Megan McArdle | January 23, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • The oversupply of graduate students in the humanities is much, much worse than the oversupply of lawyers.

    Too Many Students, Too Few Jobs | Megan McArdle | January 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • The oversupply of ethanol can be seen by looking at the parade of ethanol producers heading to bankruptcy court.

  • In the end, there is a shortage of caution, an oversupply of food, and a mess that will take years to clean up.

    Cloudy With a Chance of Mortgages | Jonathan Wald | October 3, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • That court decision has been a blessing and, perhaps, a curse—contributing to an oversupply of talent.

    Kinkonomics | Tracy Quan | February 3, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Just on a p. 140 hunch, I'll always want a considerable oversupply.

    The Planet Strappers | Raymond Zinke Gallun
  • The making of cheese was known in ancient times, it having probably originated through a desire to utilize an oversupply of milk.

    Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 2 | Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
  • Nature IS an efficiency expert and doesn't give you an oversupply of anything without demanding that you use it.

    How to Analyze People on Sight | Elsie Lincoln Benedict and Ralph Paine Benedict
  • I was interested in Tusser's "Christmas husbandly fare," notwithstanding some suggestion of gluttony in it and of oversupply.

    The Holy Earth | L. H. Bailey
  • Gigantic boulders, box-like bluffs, ragged rock-spires, cliffs and plateaus of bare rock were in oversupply.

    The Snow-Burner | Henry Oyen

British Dictionary definitions for oversupply

oversupply

/ (ˈəʊvəˌsəplaɪ) /


noun
  1. the supply of too much or too many

verb(ˌəʊvəˈsəplaɪ) -plies, -plying or -plied
  1. (tr) to supply too much (material, etc) or too many (goods, people, etc)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012