overpopulate
Americanverb (used with object)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of overpopulate
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:
Authorities are now looking at translocating some animals so they don't overpopulate the area.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2024
Experts warn that human-assisted tree migration must account for the risk of introducing nonnative species into an area where they could overpopulate and outcompete native species for water and soil nutrients.
From Scientific American ● May 5, 2023
Like everything wonderful and good in the entertainment industry, the limited series has become so trendy that it is threatening to overpopulate itself into extinction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2022
That is the main argument against a steady state economy, and why we will continue to overpopulate the earth, pollute the atmosphere, land and seas, and suffer regional conflicts fighting over resources.
From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2018
They increase very rapidly, and at not infrequent intervals they overpopulate the island, and then perish by hundreds of starvation and the diseases which follow a too meagre diet.
From Northern California, Oregon, and the Sandwich Islands by Nordhoff, Charles
"If restrictions are lifted too early, they can risk an overpopulated airspace, while on the flip side, restrictions remaining in place longer than they need to can lead to unnecessary delays, which no one wants".
From BBC ● Jan. 3, 2025
One thing stood out: The roots of their sentiments lay in concerns that the United States has become overpopulated.
From Salon ● Nov. 14, 2024
That’s the way nature designed it and how it worked for thousands of years until humans mucked it up — mostly as we overpopulated California after World War II.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2024
“We’re overpopulated now and with schools and everything else, it’s just a difficult time.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
I was sure the request would be something utterly fantastic and for a moment I was sorry I'd ever set foot upon his overpopulated lawn.
From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Invasive plants hurt garden habitats by rapidly overpopulating the area, blocking sunlight, draining water and competing with garden plants and native species for resources.
From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2024
Why is it prima facie an obvious good in and of itself that our species collectively keep overpopulating the earth?
From The Guardian ● Jul. 6, 2020
His findings led to the concept of the “behavioral sink” and suggested that evolution had given animals, perhaps including humans, an innate and irreversible self-destruct button to prevent a species from overpopulating its habitat.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 19, 2017
Like domestic sheep left unattended in a fenced pasture, we humans are eating and defecating and overpopulating the very ecosystems that support life.
From New York Times ● Oct. 25, 2016
We talk about the ecological burden of overpopulating the planet.
From Time ● Dec. 17, 2014
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.
