overpopulation
Britishnoun
Explanation
Overpopulation is what happens when there are too many members of a species. An overpopulation of deer can lead to more of them being hit by cars and more gardens being nibbled. When the population of any group is too large for its environment to support, that's overpopulation. That can mean so many people inhabiting a region that there's not enough food for everyone, or an overabundance of rabbits in an area with no natural predators. An overpopulation of pets in the U.S. means that unwanted cats and dogs have to be euthanized every year; there are just too many of them for the number of available adopters.
Vocabulary lists containing overpopulation
Human Geography - Middle School
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Human Geography - High School
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5th Grade Human Geography, List 1
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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.
But many cannot survive in the true wild, where large-scale predator control remains an endless battle, and are instead sent to fenced nature reserves, themselves high-maintenance undertakings facing problems like in-breeding and overpopulation.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
As recently as the 1990s, Thailand’s plunging birthrate was celebrated as a success by demographers worried about overpopulation and resource scarcity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Planetary solidarity to address climate change, overpopulation, poverty and all the other common threats to the welfare of the world may be desirable, but is wildly improbable.
From MarketWatch ● May 31, 2026
Chinese authorities have rolled out pronatalist incentives after ending its one-child policy -- which had been in place for more than three decades to address poverty and overpopulation.
From Barron's ● Jan. 5, 2026
The fall has been laid at the door of overpopulation, overuse of natural resources, and drought.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
