overfly

American  

[oh-ver-flahy] / ˌoʊ vərˈflaɪ /

verb (used with object)

overflew, overflown, overflying

1. to fly over (a specified area, territory, country, etc.).

   The plane lost its way and overflew foreign territory.

2. to fly farther than or beyond; overshoot.

3. to fly over or past instead of making a scheduled stop.

   to overfly Philadelphia because of bad weather.

---

verb (used without object)

overflew, overflown, overflying

1. to fly over a particular territory, country, etc..

   The plane approached the border but never overflew.

overfly British  

/ ˌəʊvəˈflaɪ /

verb

1. (tr) to fly over (a territory) or past (a point)

---

Etymology

Origin of overfly

First recorded in 1550–60; over- + fly ²

Example Sentences

Some of them -- France, Spain and Italy -- did not allow US military aircraft deployed for the war to overfly their territories or to use bases.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

Risch intends to “reroute aircraft taking off/landing from Boise Airport so that they would overfly neighborhoods in Meridian instead of flying over his property near the airport,” Coose wrote from his personal email account.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 17, 2023

The two planes came close to colliding when the FedEx aircraft was forced to overfly the Southwest jet to avoid a crash in poor visibility conditions around 6:40 a.m.

From Reuters • Feb. 6, 2023

The heart of Japan’s security problem is missiles, and not just from China; North Korea regularly tests ballistic missiles that overfly Japanese territory.

From Washington Post • Jan. 12, 2023

This bird shall overfly the world from east to furthest west *      And that shall win her every wish though ne'er she leave the      nest.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 01 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir