overbalance

[ verb oh-ver-bal-uhns; noun oh-ver-bal-uhns ]
See synonyms for: overbalanceoverbalancedoverbalancing on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),o·ver·bal·anced, o·ver·bal·anc·ing.
  1. to outweigh: The opportunity overbalances the disadvantages of leaving town.

  2. to cause to lose balance or to fall or turn over: He accidentally overbalanced a vase.

noun
  1. an excessive weight or amount.

  2. something that more than balances or more than equals: An overbalance of imports depleted the country's treasury.

Origin of overbalance

1
First recorded in 1600–10; over- + balance

Words Nearby overbalance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use overbalance in a sentence

  • The certainty that his whole life hereafter must be one long act of treachery to Greif must overbalance everything else.

    Greifenstein | F. Marion Crawford
  • But if the elder brother had in one instance the advantage, still Henry had a resource to overbalance this article.

    Nature and Art | Mrs. Inchbald
  • Three sessions with a good record might overbalance the loss in public confidence this would incur.

    A Mixture of Genius | Arnold Castle
  • A little more and it would overbalance and carry the horse head over heels!

    Hopes and Fears | Charlotte M. Yonge
  • But Madame de Grandmaison and her companion were too well exercised in the gymnastics of gossip to overbalance themselves.

    The Golden Dog | William Kirby

British Dictionary definitions for overbalance

overbalance

verb(ˌəʊvəˈbæləns)
  1. to lose or cause to lose balance

  2. (tr) another word for outweigh

noun(ˈəʊvəˌbæləns)
  1. excess of weight, value, 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