overeat
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overeatsimple
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overeatssimple
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have overeatenperfect
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has overeatenperfect
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am overeatingprogressive
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are overeatingprogressive
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is overeatingprogressive
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have been overeatingperfect progressive
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has been overeatingperfect progressive
Past
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overatesimple
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had overeatenperfect
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was overeatingprogressive
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were overeatingprogressive
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had been overeatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overeat
Explanation
If you gobble up so much lasagna or so many slices of birthday cake that your stomach hurts, you overeat, or consume too much. When people eat too much food, more than they need or are hungry for, they overeat. If you overeat regularly for a long time, you'll gain extra weight. One indulgent night of overeating may simply give you terrible indigestion and the desire to never see another hot dog in your life. We've used this verb, which comes from the Old English oferæt, "gluttony," since the 1590s.
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:
As millions of people turned to the medications to lose weight, physicians and researchers started to hear that the lack of desire to overeat extended to drinking.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 23, 2025
Ultra-processed foods are high in sodium, added sugar, saturated fats and chemicals that are designed to make the food easy and pleasurable to eat and overeat, Chiu said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2025
This is what UK scientists have discovered - identifying a genetic source of many labradors' - and some people's - tendency to overeat.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2025
Advocating for the lower 2,000 calorie baseline, they reasoned, would offset Americans' tendency to overeat and do more good than harm for the population overall.
From Salon ● Jul. 16, 2024
He forgot Lavinia Lyte as he thought of the wonderful things it was her privilege to overeat if she wished.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
Now, he said, restaurants with vegetarian menus are so good that he often overeats.
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2021
It’s a day where everyone overeats — that’s not my thing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2019
Betsy overeats, has panic attacks, resents her father and misses her mother, dead from cancer like Edwards’s wife, Elizabeth.
From New York Times ● Dec. 18, 2017
Researchers believe that hundreds of genes, combined with environmental factors, have the potential to influence whether a person in the general population overeats and how easily he or she gains weight.
From New York Times ● Jan. 21, 2015
As nearly everybody overeats, and because overeating is the greatest single factor in producing disease and premature death, it is advisable not to eat cheese and other foods rich in protein in the same meal.
From Maintaining Health Formerly Health and Efficiency by Alsaker, R. L.
Dr. Apovian said she would like to see a study that compared a group of subjects who overate all day to a time-restricted eating group of subjects who also overate.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2022
Members of the grounds crew believe the birds - who flew away after about 10 minutes - overate some fresh, high-quality grass seed.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 19, 2019
Members of the grounds crew believe the birds — who flew away after about 10 minutes — overate some fresh, high-quality grass seed.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 18, 2019
Women did say, however, that they felt “rushed” and like they overate when they were in the company of a man, even though the researchers found no evidence that they actually had.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2015
At Dessie’s they were women who went to the toilet and overate and scratched and farted.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Because satiety signals take time to travel from the stomach to the brain, by the time people realize they’re full, these high-density foods all but ensure they’ve already substantially overeaten.
From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2023
There are so many variations of the cheap, convenient food that’s engineered to be overeaten that if you tax some, others will take up the slack.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2022
Consumers may blame themselves for overindulging in these foods, but what if it is in the nature of these products to be overeaten?
From The Guardian ● Feb. 12, 2020
Peterson said the park’s balsam fir trees, the preferred food for moose during winter, are being overeaten.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 18, 2017
Our sleep and food You say that you have not slept well or have overeaten.
From Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures by Eddy, Mary Baker
According to the researchers, overeating itself may not be the main problem.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 5, 2026
A mutation in this gene, which encourages overeating and means we feel less full, is carried by roughly a fifth of the global population.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2026
Together, many experts argue, these factors create constant cues and pressures toward overeating and inactivity, meaning even highly motivated individuals struggle to maintain a healthy weight.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2026
“This type of obsessive food-related thinking can override hunger cues and lead to patterns of overeating, undereating or emotional eating — especially for people who are overweight,” Tufts said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2025
After overeating, Archie thought the hammock looked pretty good.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
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.
