overdrive

[ verb oh-ver-drahyv; noun oh-ver-drahyv ]

/ verb ˌoʊ vərˈdraɪv; noun ˈoʊ vərˌdraɪv /

verb (used with object), o·ver·drove, o·ver·driv·en, o·ver·driv·ing.

to push or carry to excess; overwork.

to drive too hard.

noun

Machinery, Automotive. a device containing a gear set at such ratio and arrangement as to provide a drive shaft speed greater than the engine crankshaft speed.

Informal. an intense state of activity or productivity: The political campaign has shifted into overdrive.

Words nearby overdrive

overdrafting, overdraught, overdraw, overdrawer, overdress, overdrive, overdub, overdue, overdye, overeager, overeat

Origin of overdrive

before 950; Middle English overdriven to cover over, overpower; Old English oferdrīfan to drive away, overthrow. See over-, drive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for overdrive

When I put their allegations to Epstein, he denied them and went into overdrive.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The Tea Party hate machine has gone into overdrive in South Carolina, so how has Lindsey Graham survived so comfortably?
Lindsey Graham’s Tea Party Teflon|Patricia Murphy|June 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Newspapers in the U.K. went into overdrive as they speculated about the likelihood of a fresh royal wedding.
Why Cressida and Harry Split|Tom Sykes|April 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The back and forth has sent the gossip blogs into overdrive.
Melissa Etheridge’s Hideous Breakup|Tricia Romano|April 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Sexual-harassment deniers are in overdrive amid the escalating complaints against the presidential hopeful.
Herman Cain and the Denial Campaign|Leslie Bennetts|November 9, 2011|DAILY BEAST
They'd originally been guard-boats, intended for solar-system duty only and quite incapable of overdrive.
Pariah Planet|Murray Leinster
Approaching a planet on overdrive would be like trying to garage a ground-car at sixty miles an hour.
Talents, Incorporated|William Fitzgerald Jenkins
A ship which fled in overdrive could not reappear like this!
Talents, Incorporated|William Fitzgerald Jenkins
They were powerful, willing animals, and it jarred on him to overdrive them, as he had been forced to do.
Harding of Allenwood|Harold Bindloss
It had seen the Horus go into overdrive and move only hundreds of miles instead of hundreds of millions.
Talents, Incorporated|William Fitzgerald Jenkins

British Dictionary definitions for overdrive

overdrive

noun (ˈəʊvəˌdraɪv)

a very high gear in a motor vehicle used at high speeds to reduce wear and save fuel

in overdrive in a state of intense activity

into overdrive into a state of intense activity

verb (ˌəʊvəˈdraɪv) -drives, -driving, -drove or -driven

(tr) to drive too hard or too far; overwork or overuse

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