overdrive
Americanverb (used with object)
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to push or carry to excess; overwork.
-
to drive too hard.
noun
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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.
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Also called hyperdrive. Informal. a state of intense activity or productivity.
The political campaign has shifted into overdrive.
noun
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a very high gear in a motor vehicle used at high speeds to reduce wear and save fuel
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in a state of intense activity
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into a state of intense activity
verb
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. )
Vocabulary lists containing overdrive
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:
You can see something similar in the body politic, when the sudden appearance of something new and confusing kicks societal defenses into overdrive.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
The awards stuff hasn’t really kicked into overdrive yet, so it hasn’t been too much of a distraction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Fridges are working in overdrive to keep produce cool, shutters are being pulled down to keep the hot air at bay, and some goods are being taken off the shelves on the hottest days.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
In the past nine months, its borrowing went into overdrive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Complaining that “the Chicago people” were muscling in on his match race, Swope went into overdrive.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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 song starts as choppy, programmed, trap-flavored R&B, but segues into fusion rock with overdriven keyboards and distorted lead guitar.
From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2017
Where King Midas is carefully scrubbed of bright tones, Bug's "Sleng Teng" is all overdriven oranges and yellows.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2015
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
To diminish the inducement for overdriving, the method of paying the overseers by crop shares, which commonly prevailed in the colonial period, was generally replaced in the nineteenth century by that of fixed salaries.
From American Negro Slavery A Survey of the Supply, Employment and Control of Negro Labor as Determined by the Plantation Regime by Ulrich Bonnell Phillips
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 Andy Adams
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 R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
Did you never think of it,—men are cheap, and machinery is dear; many a superintendent is dismissed for overdriving a delicate machine, who wouldn't be dismissed for overdriving an overtaxed man.
From The New Freedom A Call For the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People by Woodrow Wilson
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