verb
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to build over or on top of
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to erect too many buildings in (an area)
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to build too large or elaborately
Etymology
Origin of overbuild
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:
The biggest question looming over the sector is whether there will be a manufacturing overbuild.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
While it is true that memory prices are surging and major manufacturers haven’t significantly increased production or capital expenditures, history shows commodity chip suppliers always overbuild capacity at some point in the semiconductor cycle.
From Barron's ● Jan. 7, 2026
“It would be hard to overbuild downtown given those factors.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2022
When you are in this quarterly apparel fashion business, you overbuild and you are discounting.
From The Verge ● Jul. 4, 2022
In response, a large body of exercise science shows, our bodies initiate a variety of cellular mechanisms that fix the tears and strains and, in most cases, overbuild the affected parts.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 7, 2022
That’s costing companies more to borrow, while concern has been growing about potential data-center overbuilding and what U.S. companies might achieve from those investments.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026
The ability to deliver power to solar infrastructure from space when those facilities need energy would allow developers to avoid overbuilding and save on capital investments, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026
The first was "whether there has been an overbuilding in technology and AI".
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
He warns these companies are overbuilding in response to a temporary demand spike.
From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025
And these technological therapies would have to be constructed, she said, so that they don’t invite their own side effects, like, say, overbuilding one neural network.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
If Meta does rent out excess compute, it could signal that big tech has overbuilt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Should the departure continue, or even increase, experts say it’s still not likely L.A. will ever be overbuilt like some of its Rust Belt counterparts due to pent-up demand that has never quite been met.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Only an overbuilt city can offer tenants security and freedom.
From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2024
By the end, the playing space, like the once pristine frontier, is so overbuilt you can see little else.
From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2024
On the immediate local front, reports showed that rental rates for apartments in Odessa had dropped 10 percent and occupancy rates 8 percent, boding disaster for a market that was woefully overbuilt from the boom.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
