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overfall

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overfall

  • /ˈəʊvəfɔːl/ UK
  • /ˈoʊvɚfɔl/ US
  • /əʊvəˈfɔːl/ UK
  • /oʊvɚˈfɔl/ US

Where it comes from

From Middle English overfallen, from Old English oferfeallan (“to fall upon, attack”), from Proto-West Germanic *obarfallan, *ubirfallan, from Proto-Germanic *ubirfallaną; equivalent to over- + fall. Cognate with Dutch overvallen (“to raid, overtake”), German überfallen (“to assault, attack, raid”), Swedish överfalla (“to attack”).

noun overfalls

  1. A turbulent section of a body of water, caused by strong currents passing over submerged ridges.
  2. Part of a garment that hangs so as to cover a lower part.

verb overfalls · overfalling · overfell · overfallen

  1. transitive To fall on or spill over so as to cover (something). But her laugh stuck in her throat, for at that moment a shadow overfell the two houses
  2. transitive To change or affect so as to pervade (something); to come over From thence King Hakon proceeded up the Dovrefield; but as he was going over the mountains he road all day after a ptarmigan, which flew up beside him , and in this chase a sickness overfell him, which ended in his death ; and he died on the mountains.
  3. intransitive To fall over; to spill from an edge or height. I had arrived at this conclusion, and was meditating on my possible conduct under the circumstances, as I groped my way gingerly enough in the dark shadow of a long crumbling wall, where the ivy clustered and overfell, when round a slight bend, obscured by straggling bushes , I came upon the most un
  4. intransitive To fall over; to topple. Then back-toppling, crashing back – a dead weight flung out to wrack, Horse and riders overfell.

Translations

Every language

verb To fall over (something)

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verb To fall over

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Cite this
MLA

"overfall." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/overfall. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

overfall. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/overfall

Chicago

"overfall." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/overfall.

BibTeX
@misc{overfall_2026,
  title = {overfall},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/overfall},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}