overrun
verb (used with object)
to rove over (a country, region, etc.); invade; ravage.
were overrunning
-
past progressiveof overrun.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
Traditionally dry rocky arroyos and ditches were overrunning their banks; irrigation diversions and culverts were buried in mud the consistency of peanut butter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2023
In August 1990, as Iraqi troops were overrunning the neighboring country of Kuwait, Mr. Wilson negotiated directly with Saddam, who was surrounded by a retinue of assistants and guards.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 27, 2019
When word of the attack reached Grant, he ordered Wallace’s Third Division to help turn back the surging Confederates, who were overrunning the hastily assembled Union lines.
From Slate ● Mar. 26, 2013
While revolutionary forces were overrunning the embassy and taking hostages, including the 52 men and women who were held for 444 days, five Americans fled undetected.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2012
The Moors were overrunning it on the one hand, Castile was eying it jealously on the other, yet Affonso Henriquez made it an independent and permanent kingdom.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 26, October, 1880 by Various
