overspill

[ verb oh-ver-spil; noun oh-ver-spil ]

verb (used without object),o·ver·spilled or o·ver·spilt, o·ver·spill·ing.
  1. to spill over.

noun
  1. the act of spilling over.

  2. something that spills over.

  1. British. overflow.

Origin of overspill

1
First recorded in 1850–55; over- + spill1

Words Nearby overspill

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use overspill in a sentence

  • The Westerners are the overspill of the enterprising population of the East.

    Speeches of Benjamin Harrison | Benjamin Harrison
  • A Kaffir tribe to the north-east of the Rooirand had known of it, but they had never worked it, but only collected the overspill.

    Prester John | John Buchan

British Dictionary definitions for overspill

overspill

noun(ˈəʊvəˌspɪl)
    • something that spills over or is in excess

    • (as modifier): overspill population

verb(ˌəʊvəˈspɪl) -spills, -spilling, -spilt or -spilled
  1. (intr) to overflow

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012