overheat
Americanverb (used with object)
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to heat to excess.
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to excite or agitate; make vehement.
a crowd overheated by rabble-rousers.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
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to make or become excessively hot
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(tr; often passive) to make very agitated, irritated, etc
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(intr) (of an economy) to tend towards inflation, often as a result of excessive growth in demand
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(tr) to cause (an economy) to tend towards inflation
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overheatsimple
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overheatssimple
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have overheatedperfect
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has overheatedperfect
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am overheatingprogressive
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are overheatingprogressive
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is overheatingprogressive
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have been overheatingperfect progressive
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has been overheatingperfect progressive
Past
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overheatedsimple
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had overheatedperfect
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was overheatingprogressive
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were overheatingprogressive
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had been overheatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overheat
First recorded in 1350–1400, overheat is from the Middle English word overheten. See over-, heat
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:
He says that without regulation, you end up with homes that flood, overheat, have space challenges or, worse, lead to another Grenfell disaster.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
"They're small classrooms, windows of limited opening and when you add 30 pupils they overheat very, very quickly," he added.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
Thus, he dared to break with long-held dogma that the economy would overheat and spark runaway inflation if allowed to grow at a sustained rate of much above 2.5% per year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
He said there’s a need to move data faster, which means light — instead of traditional copper — that won’t overheat data centers.
From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026
Fortunately, it sensed the overheat and warned me.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
People spend against the future before it is here, and the economy overheats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
When the sea overheats, corals eject the microscopic algae that provides their distinct colour and food source.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
When the economy runs above capacity, it overheats; wages and prices rise.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2025
As the globe overheats, Californians and others must shift our thinking about wildfire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2024
Wind blows through the flaps; sunshine overheats; and stars twinkle overhead.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The latest French heatwave has forced the temporary shutdown of three nuclear power stations to avoid the discharge of warm cooling water into overheated waterways.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Prior to that, Micron shares had been caught up in a broader tech selloff as the market corrected from previously overheated investor enthusiasm.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
The thin float and retail investor enticement created an artificial scarcity — if you were a small investor hankering for a piece of SpaceX action the only place to go was an overheated stock market.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
The Korean memory makers’ chief U.S. rival, Micron Technology, posted record quarterly earnings and better-than-expected guidance Wednesday on soaring memory-chip demand, soothing anxiety over the scale of spending on AI infrastructure and overheated valuations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
“Lemonade, please,” I say, but as I start to sip it, I get more overheated.
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
Britain recorded more than 100 incidents of devices overheating last year, a 98% surge compared with 2024, the country’s aviation regulator said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
To make things worse, a few months ago Scholtysek moved into an attic apartment - the kind that's notorious for overheating.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
The materials are less prone to overheating, so they don’t have the fire risk of lithium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
The NHF said overheating was more likely to occur in lower-income households that may not be able to afford cooling measures like air conditioning or fans.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
It was still acting funny and overheating, in spite of Neil having worked on it.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
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.
