overtake
Americanverb (used with object)
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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)
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
- unovertaken adjective
Etymology
Origin of overtake
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English overtaken; over-, take
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.
Twenty-one-year-old Alisa Fielder from Surrey passed her test as a teenager but crashed a year ago as she was trying to overtake a lorry on a motorway.
From BBC
Streaming services overtook traditional TV—cable and broadcast—in total usage for the first time ever in May, according to research firm Nielsen.
From Barron's
But experts say China, which was overtaken by India as the world's most populous nation in 2023, still faces significant hurdles in boosting its birth rate.
From Barron's
By daybreak, an uneasy calm overtook the city of more than 3 million.
From Los Angeles Times
In the first half of 2025, South Korea overtook France, the birthplace of modern cosmetics, to become the world's second-largest exporter of beauty products, after the United States.
From BBC
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.
