overtake
Americanverb (used with object)
-
overtakes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overtook,
past
-
overtaken,
past participle
-
overtaking
present participle
-
to catch up with in traveling or pursuit; draw even with.
By taking a cab to the next town, we managed to overtake and board the train.
-
to catch up with and pass, as in a race; move by.
He overtook the leader three laps from the finish.
-
to move ahead of in achievement, production, score, etc.; surpass.
to overtake all other countries in steel production.
-
to happen to or befall someone suddenly or unexpectedly, as night, a storm, or death.
The pounding rainstorm overtook them just outside the city.
verb (used without object)
-
overtakes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overtook,
past
-
overtaken,
past participle
-
overtaking
present participle
verb
-
to move past (another vehicle or person) travelling in the same direction
-
(tr) to pass or do better than, after catching up with
-
(tr) to come upon suddenly or unexpectedly
night overtook him
-
(tr) to catch up with; draw level with
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overtakesimple
-
overtakessimple
-
have overtakenperfect
-
has overtakenperfect
-
am overtakingprogressive
-
are overtakingprogressive
-
is overtakingprogressive
-
have been overtakingperfect progressive
-
has been overtakingperfect progressive
Past
-
overtooksimple
-
had overtakenperfect
-
was overtakingprogressive
-
were overtakingprogressive
-
had been overtakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overtake
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English overtaken; see over-, take
Vocabulary lists containing overtake
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.
See Examples For:
Rybakina is guaranteed to overtake Sabalenka if she reaches the semi-finals, while Pegula and Gauff could pounce if they win the title.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Is there a chance someone might overtake it, if only for a moment?
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
Now, Pogacar is in prime position to overtake all of them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Aimée thinks that Millennials in particular have so much nostalgia for catalogs because they were the generation that witnessed e-commerce overtake mail order.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
They could overtake flying fish if they were just behind them and lunging from the water at the same time and in the same direction.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
See more: SpaceX overtakes Amazon to become fifth-largest company in the world.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
This is what has led two-time champion Fernando Alonso to refer to many overtakes this year as "avoiding actions".
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
But when market speculation overtakes a stock’s actual fundamentals, the risks of a sharp—and painful—stock reversal become even greater.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
That overtakes Canada, where U.S. exports totaled $336.5 billion or 15.4% of the total.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
The smile I denied him in church overtakes my face until I’m beaming at the wall.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
In 2021, China overtook the U.S. as the world’s top blueberry grower, and by 2025 its annual production was double what it was in the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Despite her injury setback, Hodgkinson overtook Femke Broeders-Bol on the home straight for second in 1:56.26.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
On the way to the waterfall, the family travelled in a bus with two other British families, but as the driver overtook another vehicle he "lost control and went downhill".
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
Max Muncy overtook Ron Cey for second place on the team’s career home run list.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
The Mellower rolled the sherry around in his mouth and pronounced it quite the best he had tasted since an unfortunate accident overtook his wine cellar.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
“Natural gas has also overtaken oil as the primary inflation concern for European bond traders,” Danske Bank’s Jesper Fjarstedt says in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
It was overtaken by “Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s” $360 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
The seven-time champion got ahead of Verstappen in the first pit stops - only to be overtaken again the next time around, the Dutchman making a brilliant move at Turn One that caught Hamilton napping.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Now it has been overtaken globally by China’s BYD—which began, duh, as a battery company.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
You might not notice the water rising as one wave follows another, but if you wait half an hour, the dry patch you were sitting on is in danger of being overtaken by water.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
How is it that we should lay the track out when it comes to overtaking also?'
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
The drivers had warned that overtaking would be almost impossible, and so it proved.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
And overtaking is expected to be difficult - again, like Zandvoort, or even Hungary.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
The Dutchman briefly took the lead from Russell on lap 11, before the Briton re-passed him three laps later, Antonelli overtaking the Red Bull into the second chicane.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
He wanted to feel anything but a cold, crawling sense of calm that was overtaking him.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
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.
