overrun

American  

[oh-ver-ruhn, oh-ver-ruhn] / ˌoʊ vərˈrʌn, ˈoʊ vərˌrʌn /

verb (used with object)

• overruns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• overran,
  past
• overrun,
  past participle
• overrunning
  present participle

1. to rove over (a country, region, etc.); invade; ravage.

   a time when looting hordes had overrun the province.

2. to swarm over in great numbers, as animals, especially vermin; infest.

   The house had been overrun by rats.

3. to spread or grow rapidly over, as plants, especially vines, weeds, etc..

   a garden overrun with weeds.

4. to attack and defeat decisively, occupying and controlling the enemy's position; overwhelm.

5. to spread rapidly throughout, as a new idea or spirit.

   a rekindling of scholarship that had overrun Europe.

6. to run or go beyond, as a certain limit.

   The new jet overran the landing field.

7. to exceed, as a budget or estimate.

   to overrun one's allotted time.

8. to run over; overflow.

   During the flood season, the river overruns its banks for several miles.

9. Printing.

   1. to print additional copies of (a book, pamphlet, etc.) in excess of the original or the usual order.

   2. to carry over (type or words) to another page.

10. Nautical.

    1. to sail past (an intended stopping or turning point) by accident.

    2. (of a ship) to complete (a schedule of calls) more rapidly than anticipated.

11. to outrun; overtake in running.

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verb (used without object)

• overruns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• overran,
  past
• overrun,
  past participle
• overrunning
  present participle

1. to run over; overflow.

   a stream that always overruns at springtime.

2. to exceed the proper, desired, or normal quantity, limit, order, etc..

   Do you want to overrun on this next issue?

noun

• overruns
  plural

1. an act or instance of overrunning.

2. an amount in excess; surplus.

   an overrun of 10,000 copies of a new book.

3. the exceeding of estimated costs in design, development, and production, especially as estimated in a contract.

   a staggering overrun on the new fighter plane.

4. the amount exceeded.

   an overrun of $500,000 for each fighter plane.

5. a run on an item of manufacture beyond the quantity ordered by a customer and often offered at a discount.

6. the amount by which the volume of a food, as butter or ice cream, is increased above the original volume by the inclusion of air, water, or another substance.

   With only a 20 percent overrun, this is an excellent ice cream.

overrun British  

verb

1. (tr) to attack or invade and defeat conclusively

2. (tr) to swarm or spread over rapidly

3. to run over (something); overflow

4. to extend or run beyond a limit

5. (intr) (of an engine) to run with a closed throttle at a speed dictated by that of the vehicle it drives, as on a decline

6. (tr)

   1. to print (a book, journal, etc) in a greater quantity than ordered

   2. to print additional copies of (a publication)

7. (tr) printing to transfer (set type and other matter) from one column, line, or page, to another

8. archaic (tr) to run faster than

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noun

1. the act or an instance of overrunning

2. the amount or extent of overrunning

3. the number of copies of a publication in excess of the quantity ordered

4. the cleared level area at the end of an airport runway

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• overruns
  plural

Participles

• overrunning
  present
• overrun
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• overrun
  simple
• overruns
  simple
• have overrun
  perfect
• has overrun
  perfect
• am overrunning
  progressive
• are overrunning
  progressive
• is overrunning
  progressive
• have been overrunning
  perfect progressive
• has been overrunning
  perfect progressive

Past

• overran
  simple
• had overrun
  perfect
• was overrunning
  progressive
• were overrunning
  progressive
• had been overrunning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will overrun
  simple
• will have overrun
  perfect
• will be overrunning
  progressive
• will have been overrunning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of overrun

First recorded before 900; Middle English overrennen, Old English oferyrnan; see over-, run

Explanation

Overrun means being populated in huge numbers or occupied in some way. Your beautiful beach town may be peaceful in the winter but overrun by tourists every summer. You can use this verb for a successful invading army: "The troops managed to overrun the entire peninsula, reclaiming the land they'd lost." It's also good for other kinds of invasions and infestations: "They closed my dog's daycare because it was overrun by fleas." The earliest meaning, still used today, was "continue beyond a specified time," like the class that overruns by fifteen minutes, making you very late to third-period math.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

overrun overruns overran overrunning

A quarter century on from the song’s release, the U.S. economy is overrun with people who believe that nothing should come with a price tag.

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026

California’s district judges were overrun with emergency petitions for writs of habeas corpus, a legal maneuver rarely used outside death row appeals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

But as with protein, the functional hydration market is getting overrun by smaller brands that can be tough to tell apart.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026

Sloppy in possession, devoid of ideas and no shots on target, England were overrun by a relentlessness from Spain that created a chasm between the teams on the night.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026

“But I’m afraid in 1766 there was no theatre here at all, only a cobblestoned street overrun with pigs and bales of hay. We weren’t built for another fifty-five years!”

From "The Marvels" by Brian Selznick

Among the risks of a data-center financing bond is that the facility doesn’t get built on time or overruns its expected cost.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

The results included $280 million in losses on the VC-25B program for the presidential plane, Air Force One, which has been beset by delays and cost overruns.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

Two brand new Boeing Air Force Ones are due to be delivered later this decade after a series of delays and cost overruns.

From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026

Defence procurement has historically been a source of major budget overruns for the MoD.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

The previous year, he had assumed command of construction of the Pentagon, then beleaguered by labor problems, material shortages, cost overruns, and miserable work conditions.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

The North Vietnamese Communist offensive overran the South, sending more than a million “boat people” into the open ocean.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

Everything changed, he said, when the RSF overran Al-Nahud last May.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026

The RSF scored a notable victory recently when it overran the city of el-Fasher, the last garrison held by the Sudanese army and its local allies in the western region of Darfur.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2025

Over 36,000 Sudanese civilians have fled towns and villages in the Kordofan region east of Darfur, the United Nations said, just over a week after paramilitary forces overran the city of El-Fasher.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2025

While certain insects overran us, some of the other normal inhabitants of our property, such as earthworms, disappeared.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

Seve has let the detritus of life pile up around him — literally — with delivery packages and plastic-wrapped clothes overrunning his tiny Baltimore apartment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026

Mr. Ellis takes as a case study the overrunning and removal of the Creek Indians in Georgia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025

“I was on a couple hours ago with the Wildwood mayor, and he said we had a fantastic weekend, we happened to have this overrunning of, it sounds like, a bunch of teenagers.”

From Seattle Times ● May 29, 2024

With many missions overrunning their budgets, the agency has proposed dramatic changes.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 11, 2024

And this time Union soldiers sprint up the hill, overrunning the Confederate positions.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

Related Words

• beset
• choke
• deluge
• inundate
• invade
• overflow
• overwhelm
• ravage