overstretch
Americanverb (used with object)
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overstretches,
present (3rd person singular)
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overstretched,
past participle, past
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overstretching
present participle
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to stretch excessively.
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to stretch or extend over.
noun
verb
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to make excessive demands or put excessive pressure on (oneself, finances, etc)
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to stretch (muscles or limbs) too much or too hard
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overstretchsimple
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overstretchessimple
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have overstretchedperfect
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has overstretchedperfect
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am overstretchingprogressive
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are overstretchingprogressive
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is overstretchingprogressive
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have been overstretchingperfect progressive
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has been overstretchingperfect progressive
Past
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overstretchedsimple
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had overstretchedperfect
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was overstretchingprogressive
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were overstretchingprogressive
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had been overstretchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overstretch
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
To win, it helps if you look like a winner - but overstretch yourself, and it could all go wrong.
From BBC ● May 11, 2024
Some critics have voiced concern that the agreement could overstretch U.S. shipyards and make it harder to maintain America’s own fleet.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 13, 2023
"We were trying to take him as far as we could but not overstretch him, so he can be ready for the playoffs," Baker said.
From Fox News ● Oct. 2, 2021
As yet, there are no contingency plans for handling clusters of cases that might overstretch health care facilities.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 9, 2021
“That was a nasty crash you just had. What happened, anyway? Something go wrong with the bike? Arthur Weasley overstretch himself again, him and his Muggle contraptions?”
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Even when the film occasionally overstretches its CGI, it shows so much promise and creativity in its worldbuilding that it’s easy to forgive.
From The Verge ● Sep. 5, 2019
This overstretches especially the flexer tendons which run underneath the arch, produces bunions, and gives occasion for the development of corns.
From Psychotherapy by James J. (James Joseph) Walsh
Layoffs, AI transformation, overstretched managers and just plain, old existential murk—take your pick.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
The overstretched will slide into financial distress, inflicting losses on banks and on the private lenders that have proliferated.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
Nigeria's police and military have long been overstretched: across its north, Africa's most populous country is fighting a long-running jihadist insurgency, complicated by inroads made by militants from the Sahel, and non-ideological "bandit" gangs.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
Many chips stocks looked overstretched before Tuesday’s selloff, said Marshall, of Hodges Capital.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Hagrid, who was invited to the wedding the following day, but was far too bulky to sleep in the overstretched Burrow, left to set up a tent for himself in a neighboring field.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
For his part, Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday cast China as a champion of AI openness and said, “We should oppose overstretching the concept of national security in the field of AI.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
But as they found glory at home and in Asia, their parent company was overstretching itself in an inflated property market.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2025
This gearing mechanism not only contributes to the overall elongation of the muscle but reduces the elongation of individual fascicles at any given time, preventing them from overstretching and getting injured.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 6, 2023
The committee “is concerned that the United States risks overstretching its capabilities and resources, in addition to the challenges faced by the defense industrial base in replenishing stocks of munitions and equipment,” the report said.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 5, 2023
And, of course, he felt he had more than enough administrative experience in large projects to oversee electromagnetic separation, plutonium, and the chain-reaction pile without overstretching himself.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
