exceed
Americanverb (used with object)
-
exceeds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
exceeded,
past participle, past
-
exceeding
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
exceeds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
exceeded,
past participle, past
-
exceeding
present participle
-
to be greater, as in quantity or degree.
-
to surpass others; excel or be superior.
verb
-
to be superior to (a person or thing), esp in size or quality; excel
-
(tr) to go beyond the limit or bounds of
to exceed one's income
exceed a speed limit
-
to be greater in degree or quantity than (a person or thing)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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exceedernoun
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superexceedverb (used without object)
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exceedableadjective
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unexceedableadjective
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unexceededadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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exceedsimple
-
exceedssimple
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have exceededperfect
-
has exceededperfect
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am exceedingprogressive
-
are exceedingprogressive
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is exceedingprogressive
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have been exceedingperfect progressive
-
has been exceedingperfect progressive
Past
-
exceededsimple
-
had exceededperfect
-
was exceedingprogressive
-
were exceedingprogressive
-
had been exceedingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exceed
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English exceden, from Latin excēdere “to go out, go beyond”; equivalent to ex- 1 + cede
Explanation
To exceed is to go beyond expectations, or to go too far. If you exceed the speed limit, you might get a speeding ticket. Exceed and excess share the Latin root excedere meaning to "go beyond." An excess is too much of something, like the piles of candy after Halloween, and exceed means the action of going too far in a good or bad way. You exceed in school when you get straight A's. When Dr. Jekyll transforms into Mr. Hyde, he experiences "a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death." No thanks! It helps to remember that like speed, exceed ends with -eed.
Vocabulary lists containing exceed
Power Prefix: ex-
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The Bill of Rights
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 3
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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:
This can continue as long as your figures include taxes and all expenses, and your expenses don’t exceed your income.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
"But there is an upper limit. Frequencies above this limit are much weaker; it is simply not possible to exceed a certain maximum frequency."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
Strazik said demand for electricity infrastructure continues to increase, with GE Vernova now projecting its backlog to exceed $200 billion in the fourth quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
LA28 is on pace to exceed some of those marks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
“I think we will exceed the king’s expectations, even if we do not give him all the gold.”
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
The state-run railroad company in 2024 changed its compensation rules and now offers a full refund only if the delay exceeds 90 minutes, compared with 30 minutes in the past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Developer Capital & Centric had previously warned that the cost of delivering the project "in the current climate exceeds the value of the completed development".
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
The toll from the wildfires far exceeds that of the forest fires that swept France in the summer of 2022.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
The Australian Government has invested $387 million in the SKA, while the project's total cost exceeds $2 billion.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
I cringe seeing that, once again, the stack of bills exceeds the height of the other piles.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
The new experiment demonstrates that this familiar limit can be exceeded when two electrons interact in a particular way.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner told the BBC that the case may have exceeded the 10-year statute of limitations, giving the motion to dismiss the charges "a very good chance of being granted".
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
But the franchisees said that the total likely remodeling cost for a restaurant — which Saleh said exceeded $1 million — was high.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
The company beat its initial 2025 revenue guidance by 14%, according to FactSet, while GE Vernova exceeded its target by 4.3%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
The street they strolled had sparse, country-lazy traffic that never exceeded the speed limit.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
Another report into ground and surface water found contamination was "widespread" at the site, with all samples exceeding environmental standards.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Assets exceeding the exemption are taxed at 40% before the estate is distributed to heirs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Between July and September, the country's glaciers released approximately 2.2 trillion liters of water, an amount exceeding four times the drinking water consumed by Swiss households in an entire year.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
Secondly, the tech sector overall is running a financing surplus of around $400 billion this year because cash flows are exceeding capex.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
Seen by the dim light of the dips, their number to me appeared countless, though not in reality exceeding eighty; they were uniformly dressed in brown stuff frocks of quaint fashion, and long holland pinafores.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
