overdrive

American  

[oh-ver-drahyv, oh-ver-drahyv] / ˌoʊ vərˈdraɪv, ˈoʊ vərˌdraɪv /

verb (used with object)

overdrove, overdriven, overdriving

1. to push or carry to excess; overwork.

2. to drive too hard.

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noun

1. 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.

2. Also called hyperdrive.  Informal. a state of intense activity or productivity.

   The political campaign has shifted into overdrive.

overdrive British  

noun

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

2. in a state of intense activity

3. into a state of intense activity

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verb

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

Etymology

Origin of overdrive

First recorded before 950; Middle English overdriven “to cover over, overpower”; Old English oferdrīfan “to drive away, overthrow”; equivalent to over- ( def. ) + drive ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

overdrive overdriven overdriving

Leveraged ETFs and their siblings, inverse funds, are risky, and their frenzied proliferation that kicked into overdrive 2025 may be overshadowing their big jump in closures this year.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

It's a well-oiled machine, kicked into overdrive by a war more than a thousand kilometres away.

From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026

Investors have earned three times as much from an index of oil refiners as producers in the past decade, and that gap went into overdrive this year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

The higher temperatures promote algae growth by allowing their metabolisms to shift into overdrive.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026

My body and brain had gone into shock overdrive, where nothing made much sense.

From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King

His music married the pomp of musical theater with the overdriven emotions of rock ‘n’ roll, a combination unveiled on “Bat Out of Hell,” the 1977 album he wrote for Meat Loaf.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2021

For years, the title of the band’s first single, “Young Hearts Spark Fire,” was a rallying cry, and the pair’s overdriven, heart-on-sleeve approach reached its apotheosis on 2012’s “Celebration Rock.”

From Washington Post ● Jul. 10, 2018

Musselwhite’s tones range from Little Walter-like overdriven vamps to a caressing contribution reminiscent of Larry Adler on the excellent album-ending ballad “Nothing at All.”

From Washington Times ● Mar. 29, 2018

The form of the song is simple and its sound overdriven: a fuzzed-out electric piano bangs out quarter-note chords through the whole thing, in sync with the guitars.

From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2016

The work was genuine work, and we were not overdriven.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

I’ve been amplifying the ukulele through a pick-up and then overdriving it in a really great tube amp, so the texture became not the stereotypical strum of the ukulele.

From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2011

Others were designed to destroy the hard disk by directly overdriving the disk or would cause amonitor to self-destruct.

From Terminal Compromise: computer terrorism: when privacy and freedom are the victims: a novel by Schwartau, Winn

The overdriving of trail cattle was frequently unavoidable, dry drives and the lack of grass on arid wastes being of common occurrence.

From The Outlet by Adams, Andy

The Clinton tried with me, and I had to keep my esper carefully aimed at the road ahead because I was definitely overdriving my eyesight and reaction-time.

From Highways in Hiding by Smith, George Oliver

He also knows that overdriving will only shorten the days of his usefulness; he therefore wisely lets him stagger by unmolested, with his light load.

From The Pirate City An Algerine Tale by Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael)