overheat
Americanverb (used with object)
-
overheats,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overheated,
past participle, past
-
overheating
present participle
-
to heat to excess.
-
to excite or agitate; make vehement.
a crowd overheated by rabble-rousers.
verb (used without object)
-
overheats,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overheated,
past participle, past
-
overheating
present participle
noun
verb
-
to make or become excessively hot
-
(tr; often passive) to make very agitated, irritated, etc
-
(intr) (of an economy) to tend towards inflation, often as a result of excessive growth in demand
-
(tr) to cause (an economy) to tend towards inflation
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overheatsimple
-
overheatssimple
-
have overheatedperfect
-
has overheatedperfect
-
am overheatingprogressive
-
are overheatingprogressive
-
is overheatingprogressive
-
have been overheatingperfect progressive
-
has been overheatingperfect progressive
Past
-
overheatedsimple
-
had overheatedperfect
-
was overheatingprogressive
-
were overheatingprogressive
-
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:
And if the power goes out and people lose access to AC, there is also a higher chance they’ll overheat, become dehydrated and end up at the hospital.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
Ninety percent of UK homes will overheat during the summer by 2050, the National Housing Federation said.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 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
Magnets that exploit the properties of rare earths such as neodymium can overheat, making them lose their magnetism in high-tech, high-temperature settings such as vehicle engines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
But trap too much, which humans were doing by burning fossil fuels, and everything started to overheat.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
In conventional battery packs, when one cell overheats and catches fire, it can cause all those around it to also catch fire.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
That overheats the present economy and pushes rates higher.
From Barron's ● May 9, 2026
Run the machine too hard and it overheats.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 5, 2026
When one battery cell overheats, it can trigger a chain reaction where nearby cells also overheat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025
Wind blows through the flaps; sunshine overheats; and stars twinkle overhead.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
In another case involving the bureau, a black Labrador named Spike who was trained to detect fire accelerants in arson investigations overheated after a sergeant left him in a car for more than four hours.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
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 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
The run-down house, the overheated room, the stacked mattress, and the hoarded toilet paper—all remind him how far he would have to go to achieve a success like John Zannikos’s.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
When the economy is overheating, bond yields will rise, which will slow the economy and squelch the threat of higher inflation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Prof Mat Santamouris from the University of New South Wales, is the world's most-cited researcher on urban overheating.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Research on overheating in homes shows that shading and ventilation can be important passive cooling strategies: reducing indoor heat without mechanical cooling.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
“Naturally, investors are panicking that we’re about to see cheap domestic supply flood a market that’s been overheating for months,” Nic Puckrin, founder of Coin Bureau and a cross-asset analyst, said in emailed comments.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
So I waited by the door, overheating in my coat, and Annemarie waited with me.
From "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead
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.
