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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

Related Words

overrate, overplay, exaggerate, overstate, overreach, overvalue, overestimate, overuse, magnify, stretch, hype, overwork, overload, belabor, pressure, fatigue, puff, overburden, overindulge, amplify
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.