overstay

[ oh-ver-stey ]

/ ˌoʊ vərˈsteɪ /

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verb (used with object)

to stay beyond the time, limit, or duration of; outstay: to overstay one's welcome.

Finance. to remain in (the market) beyond the point where a sale would have yielded the greatest profit.

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Origin of overstay

First recorded in 1640–50; over- + stay¹

Words nearby overstay

overspin, overspread, overstaff, overstand, overstate, overstay, overstayer, oversteer, overstep, overstitch, overstock

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

How to use overstay in a sentence

During the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, most Haitians were coming on student visas or tourist visas, and then if they didn’t have authorization to stay, they were overstaying their visa.
Why America keeps turning its back on Haitian migrants|Fabiola Cineas|September 24, 2021|Vox
Under the registry, if an immigrant has been living in the US since before a certain date, they are eligible to apply for permanent residence under federal law, regardless of whether they overstayed a visa or entered the US without authorization.
Democrats still have real options for immigration reform|Nicole Narea|September 22, 2021|Vox
The administration argued that TPS was not designed to grant long-term residency to foreigners who may have arrived illegally or overstayed their visas and that the “extraordinary conditions” that brought them to the country no longer existed.
How new immigration legislation would fit into an already complex system|Daniela Santamarina, Danielle Rindler, Joe Fox|March 12, 2021|Washington Post
In the heavily redacted email, the officer said they are pursuing a “straight-up Pleasure Visitor” accused of overstaying their visa, and that a search of unspecified utility records had showed that the target had “recently departed” from an address.
ICE investigators used a private utility database covering millions to pursue immigration crimes|Drew Harwell|February 26, 2021|Washington Post

If they don’t leave their homes within 10 days of getting a notice from their landlords, they can be charged with a misdemeanor and fined for each day they overstay.
A Deputy Prosecutor Was Fired for Speaking Out Against Jail Time for People Who Fall Behind on Rent|by Maya Miller and Ellis Simani|November 27, 2020|ProPublica
Some overstay their visas and some, he says, possibly arrive pregnant.
Get Ready to Start Hearing About ‘Executive Amnesty for Anchor Babies’|Eleanor Clift|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By often-cited estimate, fully one-quarter of illegal immigrants arrive legally, but then overstay their visas.
What the Immigration Compromise Reveals|David Frum|April 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Once there are “boots on the ground,” they might get caught in the crossfire and overstay their welcome.
Seize Syria's Chemical Supply Before It's Too Late|Gil Troy|January 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The senior official also worries that the Americans could overstay their welcome.
Afghanistan: Mixed Reviews for Obama’s Visit|Sami Yousafzai, Ron Moreau|May 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Still, he says, “you can overstay your welcome at the pinnacle.”
Jill Abramson: The NYT's New Executive Editor|Howard Kurtz|June 2, 2011|DAILY BEAST
If I overstay my time I do not give myself worry—I know that she will understand that there are contingencies.
John Gayther's Garden and the Stories Told Therein|Frank R. Stockton
And if they do not, one does not overstay one's visa in the Soviet Union.
Warren Commission (5 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
In three hours the vessel, not to overstay the bounds of neutral hospitality, returned to the ocean.
We Can't Have Everything|Rupert Hughes
It will be readily believed that George Bertram did not overstay the three months.
The Bertrams|Anthony Trollope
If you overstay the limit and cannot return, you will be decontaminated just as we must be when we return to our own people.
Shock Treatment|Stanley Mullen

British Dictionary definitions for overstay

overstay

/ (ˌəʊvəˈsteɪ) /

verb (tr)

to stay beyond the time, limit, or duration of

finance to delay a transaction in (a market) until after the point at which the maximum profit would have been made

NZ to stay in New Zealand beyond (the period sanctioned by the immigration authorities or the period of a visitor's permit)

overstay one's welcome or outstay one's welcome to stay (at a party, on a visit, etc), longer than pleases the host or hostess

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