Library / English Dictionary

OVERTAKE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: overtaken    , overtook   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Catch up with and possibly overtake

Example:

The Rolls Royce caught us near the exit ramp

Synonyms:

catch; catch up with; overtake

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

"Overtake" entails doing...:

compete; contend; vie (compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others)

Verb group:

catch (reach in time)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

overtaking (going by something that is moving in order to get in front of it)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli

Synonyms:

overcome; overpower; overtake; overwhelm; sweep over; whelm

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "overtake" is one way to...):

arouse; elicit; enkindle; evoke; fire; kindle; provoke; raise (call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "overtake"):

devastate (overwhelm or overpower)

clutch; get hold of; seize (affect)

kill (overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration)

benight (overtake with darkness or night)

knock out (overwhelm with admiration)

stagger (astound or overwhelm, as with shock)

lock (hold fast (in a certain state))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Travel past

Example:

The sports car passed all the trucks

Synonyms:

overhaul; overtake; pass

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "overtake" is one way to...):

advance; go on; march on; move on; pass on; progress (move forward, also in the metaphorical sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "overtake"):

get by (pass or move in front of)

clear; top (pass by, over, or under without making contact)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

These cars won't overtake

Derivation:

overtaking (going by something that is moving in order to get in front of it)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It is impossible; one might as well try to overtake the winds, or confine a mountain-stream with a straw.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

She was roused from her seat, and her reflections, by some one's approach; and before she could strike into another path, she was overtaken by Wickham.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

We had gone half a mile, perhaps, when the Champion overtook us, and I could not but observe that the bundle was no longer under his arm.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

No worries, though, that the odor of hydrogen sulfide would overtake human senses.

(What Uranus Cloud Tops Have in Common With Rotten Eggs, NASA)

They pushed off immediately, advising me to make haste for fear of being overtaken by the tide, and so bade me farewell.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

It chanced that when Martin was leaving, he overtook Brissenden already half down the walk to the street.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Maud and I went about our work oppressed by the fearful fate which had overtaken him,—how fearful we were yet fully to realize.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He followed, with wild leapings, in a frenzy to overtake.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Striding through the scattered knots of people who lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook the little man and touched him upon the shoulder.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We had little time to watch them, however, for in an instant they had overtaken the fugitives and were making a dire slaughter among them.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)