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overspill

[ verb oh-ver-spil; noun oh-ver-spil ]
/ verb ˌoʊ vərˈspɪl; noun ˈoʊ vərˌspɪl /
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verb (used without object), o·ver·spilled or o·ver·spilt, o·ver·spill·ing.
to spill over.
noun
the act of spilling over.
something that spills over.
British. overflow.
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Origin of overspill

First recorded in 1850–55; over- + spill1

Words nearby overspill

oversold, oversolicitous, oversoul, overspecialization, overspend, overspill, overspin, overspread, overstaff, overstand, overstate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

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)
  1. something that spills over or is in excess
  2. (as modifier)overspill population
verb (ˌəʊvəˈspɪl) -spills, -spilling, -spilt or -spilled
(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
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