overtake
Americanverb (used with object)
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overtakes,
present (3rd person singular)
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overtook,
past
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overtaken,
past participle
-
overtaking
present participle
-
to catch up with in traveling or pursuit; draw even with.
By taking a cab to the next town, we managed to overtake and board the train.
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to catch up with and pass, as in a race; move by.
He overtook the leader three laps from the finish.
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to move ahead of in achievement, production, score, etc.; surpass.
to overtake all other countries in steel production.
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to happen to or befall someone suddenly or unexpectedly, as night, a storm, or death.
The pounding rainstorm overtook them just outside the city.
verb (used without object)
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overtakes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overtook,
past
-
overtaken,
past participle
-
overtaking
present participle
verb
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to move past (another vehicle or person) travelling in the same direction
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(tr) to pass or do better than, after catching up with
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(tr) to come upon suddenly or unexpectedly
night overtook him
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(tr) to catch up with; draw level with
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overtakesimple
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overtakessimple
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have overtakenperfect
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has overtakenperfect
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am overtakingprogressive
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are overtakingprogressive
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is overtakingprogressive
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have been overtakingperfect progressive
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has been overtakingperfect progressive
Past
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overtooksimple
-
had overtakenperfect
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was overtakingprogressive
-
were overtakingprogressive
-
had been overtakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overtake
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English overtaken; see over-, take
Vocabulary lists containing overtake
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:
Is there a chance someone might overtake it, if only for a moment?
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
The Ministry of Justice has warned the prison population will overtake capacity as soon as this November.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
For Chinese companies trying to overtake American incumbents, releasing model weights earns trust, wins developers and makes their technology the default foundation for new applications.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Aimée thinks that Millennials in particular have so much nostalgia for catalogs because they were the generation that witnessed e-commerce overtake mail order.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Once the train reached a cruising speed of eight hundred miles per hour, Citra excused herself to use the restroom, where she splashed water on her face, trying not to let exhaustion overtake her.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
That is when a fire spreads so suddenly and rapidly that it overtakes personnel or equipment, cutting off escape routes and forcing trapped firefighters to deploy an emergency, last-resort shelter tent.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
I do not think Qualcomm overtakes Nvidia on raw AI performance — but it does not have to.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
Even when they’re ahead of his pace, they know it’s only a matter of time until the American overtakes them and leaves them in the dust.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2026
He overtakes two of his compatriots who have won eight golds at Winter Olympics -- former cross-country skiers Marit Bjoergen and Bjoern Daehlie, and former biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen.
From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026
However, when the grizzly overtakes you, as it most assuredly will, you should fall to the ground and play dead.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Apple’s market capitalization during Friday trading, when it briefly overtook Nvidia to become the world’s most valuable company.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
This summer the 27-year-old captain overtook Olivier Giroud as France's all-time leading goalscorer, and now has 64 in 104 games.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Last term, when there were both more cases and more referrals to the full court, the appeals to the shadow docket finally overtook those to the merits docket.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
The $14.7-million repainting of the Reflecting Pool became particularly controversial last month after algae overtook the renovated pool and the new paint appeared to peel off.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Walking back to the school grounds from the railroad station in the descending darkness we overtook a lone figure sliding along the snow-covered edge of the street.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
Lately, however, products from Chinese and European rivals have overtaken the Model Y in a number of fundamental metrics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Now all of that has been overtaken by his sudden and shocking death.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Ten years after the fall of Troy, Odysseus still hasn’t returned home to Ithaca, and his kingdom has been overtaken by suitors crudely courting his wife’s hand.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
The room is overtaken with projections, scenes of bustling New York traffic paired with bachelor-pad-like guitar riffs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
I hope that before we get to Strasba we may see them; for if by that time we have not overtaken the Count, it may be necessary to take counsel together what to do next.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
The couple's car collided with an oncoming truck while overtaking another vehicle on Monday afternoon, said Nicolas Leclainche, the deputy public prosecutor in Niort in the Deux-Sevres department.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Okuda also oversaw the opening of Toyota factories abroad on the firm's way to overtaking General Motors as the world's largest automaker by vehicle sales.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Nvidia, as the chipmaker at the center of the AI boom, had held the No. 1 spot for over a year after overtaking Apple in May 2025.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Asics’s has grown to 26 times, overtaking Nike’s earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
‘My lord,’ he said to the king, ‘there are horsemen behind us. As we crossed the fords I thought that I heard them. Now we are sure. They are overtaking us, riding hard.’
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
