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overboard

[oh-ver-bawrd, -bohrd]
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adverb
  1. over the side of a ship or boat, especially into or in the water: to fall overboard.
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Idioms
  1. go overboard, to go to extremes, especially in regard to approval or disapproval of a person or thing: I think the critics went overboard in panning that new show.
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Origin of overboard

before 1000; Middle English over bord, Old English ofer bord. See over, board
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for go overboard

overboard

adverb
  1. from on board a vessel into the water
  2. go overboard informal
    1. to be extremely enthusiastic
    2. to go to extremes
  3. throw overboard to reject or abandon
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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

Word Origin and History for go overboard

overboard

adv.

"over the side of a ship," Old English ofor bord, from over + bord "side of a ship" (see board (n.2)). Figurative sense of "excessively, beyond one's means" (especially in phrase go overboard) first attested 1931 in Damon Runyon.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with go overboard

go overboard

Show excessive enthusiasm, act in an excessive way. For example, It's easy to go overboard with a new stock offering, or She really went overboard, hiring the most expensive caterer. [Mid-1900s]

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overboard

see go overboard.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.