overwork
to cause to work too hard, too much, or too long; weary or exhaust with work (often used reflexively): Don't overwork yourself on that new job.
to work up, stir up, or excite excessively: to overwork a mob to the verge of frenzy.
to employ or elaborate to excess: an appeal for sympathy that has been overworked by many speakers.
to work or decorate all over; decorate the surface of: white limestone overworked with inscriptions.
to work too hard, too much, or too long; work to excess: You look as though you've been overworking.
work beyond one's strength or capacity.
extra or excessive work.
Origin of overwork
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use overwork in a sentence
Marx forecast that the profit motive would lead to overworking and exhausting the fertility of our soil and other natural systems.
American Democracy Under Threat for 250 Years | Jedediah Purdy | December 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSome doctor's silly whim; he probably had made Helen believe I'd been overworking, when there was the Texas formula to solve.
I Walked in Arden | Jack CrawfordI am glad you know my feeling of not being able to judge about one's own work; but I suspect that you have been overworking.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II | Charles DarwinShe told herself that Pierre had been overworking himself, that Pierre was tired, that Pierre needed cheering up.
Zut and Other Parisians | Guy Wetmore CarrylHe knew that his father was subject to fainting spells and he had been overworking recently.
The Boy Inventors' Radio Telephone | Richard Bonner
Overworking himself in the East End, as all the young parsons seem to be doing?
Lady Rose's Daughter | Mrs. Humphry Ward
British Dictionary definitions for overwork
(also intr) to work or cause to work too hard or too long
to use too much: to overwork an excuse
to decorate the surface of
to work up
excessive or excessively tiring work
Derived forms of overwork
- overworked, adjective
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
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