override

American  

[oh-ver-rahyd, oh-ver-rahyd] / ˌoʊ vərˈraɪd, ˈoʊ vərˌraɪd /

verb (used with object)

• overrides,
  present (3rd person singular)
• overrode,
  past
• overridden,
  past participle
• overriding
  present participle

1. to prevail or have dominance over; have final authority or say over; overrule.

   to override one's advisers.

2. to disregard, set aside, or nullify; countermand.

   to override the board's veto.

3. to take precedence over; preempt or supersede.

   to override any other considerations.

4. to extend beyond or spread over; overlap.

5. to modify or suspend the ordinary functioning of; alter the normal operation of.

6. to ride over or across.

7. to ride past or beyond.

8. to trample or crush; ride down.

9. to ride (a horse) too much.

10. Fox Hunting. to ride too closely behind (the hounds).

---

noun

• overrides
  plural

1. a commission on sales or profits, especially one paid at the executive or managerial level.

2. budgetary or expense increase; exceeding of an estimate.

   work stoppage because of cost overrides.

3. an ability or allowance to correct, change, supplement, or suspend the operation of an otherwise automatic mechanism, system, etc.

4. an auxiliary device for such modification, as a special manual control.

5. an act of nullifying, canceling, or setting aside.

   a congressional override of the president's veto.

6. Radio and Television Slang. something that is a dominant or major facet of a program or series, especially something that serves as a unifying theme.

   an entertainment series with a historical override.

override British  

/ ˌəʊvəˈraɪd /

verb

1. to set aside or disregard with superior authority or power

2. to supersede or annul

3. to dominate or vanquish by or as if by trampling down

4. to take manual control of (a system that is usually under automatic control)

5. to extend or pass over, esp to overlap

6. to ride (a horse) too hard

7. to ride over or across

---

noun

1. a device or system that can override an automatic control

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• overrides
  plural

Participles

• overriding
  present
• overridden
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• override
  simple
• overrides
  simple
• have overridden
  perfect
• has overridden
  perfect
• am overriding
  progressive
• are overriding
  progressive
• is overriding
  progressive
• have been overriding
  perfect progressive
• has been overriding
  perfect progressive

Past

• overrode
  simple
• had overridden
  perfect
• was overriding
  progressive
• were overriding
  progressive
• had been overriding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will override
  simple
• will have overridden
  perfect
• will be overriding
  progressive
• will have been overriding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of override

before 900; Middle English overriden to ride over or across, Old English oferrīdan. See over-, ride

Explanation

You can override or reject a decision if you're more powerful than the person who originally made the decision. And Congress has the power to override or nullify the Presidential veto if they have a two-thirds vote. The word override can be used in a number of contexts. You can override or ride on top of the grass. You can override a horse, or ride it too hard. An army can override or dominate the enemy in a war. And a judge can override or set aside a decision in court. Regardless of which meaning you're using, remember that the thing doing the overriding always has the upper hand.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

override overrides overrode overridden overriding

If the account owner had a will leaving this bank account to a third party, it would generally not override a valid beneficiary designation.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

China has drawn up new safety rules for the growing number of autonomous vehicles on its roads, including a mandatory deactivation override, the government said Tuesday.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

A home’s location can often override the steps residents take to protect their properties.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

Lawmakers will struggle to block it, though, without a joint resolution and a two-thirds majority vote in the House and Senate to override a potential presidential veto.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

The needs of the windmill must override everything else, he said.

From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell

Friday's ruling by the Constitutional Council overrides the ban, which Emmanuel Macron had pledged would be introduced in stages from September.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

But according to the research of professor Richard Hasen, the rate of congressional overrides has steadily decreased over the years as Congress becomes slower and less productive with each passing term.

From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026

He pointed to a recent landmark bill, State Senate Bill 79, which overrides local zoning laws to allow for taller, denser buildings near major transit stops.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

Yet the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission insists that it has jurisdiction over prediction markets, which overrides state laws that prohibit or regulate gambling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

I should be filtering my thoughts, but my anger overrides my fear.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

On the same night it approved the contracts, the board overrode its own chief financial officer to pull $175 million from a fund set aside for retiree health benefits.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

However, Tesla argues that the driver manually overrode the technology.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026

Last year, researchers at the UK's AI Security Institute found jailbreaks that overrode safeguards across a range of harmful requests in every AI system it tested.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

StatNews reported that Dr. Prasad overrode his staff.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026

The adrenaline rush that overrode the sensation has passed and my body parts join in a chorus of complaints.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

Cutler said this has a lower likelihood of being overridden by courts, noting Trump's top trade official Jamieson Greer had carefully navigated procedural requirements before imposing duties.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

Board chairs historically have rarely overridden the executives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s vice president of AI software, said on X that the driver had manually overridden the system by “by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100%.”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026

"With all due respect to the Congress, when it reaches my desk, I will veto it," Lula told journalists last week, while acknowledging his veto could be overridden by the largely conservative Congress.

From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2025

There was the snorting protest of an overridden horse and the anxious stamping of hooves, followed by a thud as of a man leaping from the saddle.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

As a political reporter, I came away from Comic Con with one overriding impression: If world politics were more like the comic book world, reality would be a safer, saner and healthier place.

From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026

In 2025 it enacted SB15, which provided for lot size flexibility in new residential subdivisions by overriding some minimum local lot-size requirements.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

"The overriding priority is to rescue as many people as possible while urgently providing life-saving health care to the injured," said Ciro Ugarte, emergencies director for PAHO, the UN health agency's Americas regional branch.

From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026

No wonder, then, that the overriding question given Leclerc's commitment to the team is: is he wasting his career there?

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

He recorded the moment in his journal, leavening his relief with the one overriding concern that had lent urgency to the work of all the atomic scientists of those years.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

• abrogate
• annul
• nullify
• quash
• reverse
• revoke
• veto