overreach
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overreach
- /ˌəʊvəˈɹiːt͡ʃ/ UK
- /ˌoʊvə(ɹ)ˈɹit͡ʃ/ US
- /ˈəʊvə(ˌ)ɹiːt͡ʃ/ UK
- /ˈoʊvə(ɹ)ˌɹit͡ʃ/ US
Rhymes with -iːtʃ
Where it comes from
The verb is from Middle English overrechen (“to rise above; to extend beyond or over; to encroach; to catch, overtake; to reach; to obtain wrongfully (?); to take up (a book) to revise it”) [and other forms], equivalent to over- + reach; the noun is derived from the verb or from the phrase to reach over.
verb overreaches · overreaching · overreached · overraught
-
To reach above or beyond, especially to an excessive degree.
[...] I cannot forget what the poet Martial saith; "O quantum est subitis casibus ingenium!" signifying, that accident is many times more subtle than foresight, and overreacheth expectation; [...]
Similar: exceed, excel, forpass, go beyond, breach, cap, outreach, outcompass, outstep, outstrip, overgo, overpass
-
To defeat or override a person's interest in property; (UK, specifically) of a holder of the legal title of real property: by mortgaging or selling the legal title to a third party, to cause another person's equitable right in the property to be dissolved and to be replaced by an equitable right in the money received from the third party.
[A]n equitable mortgage, by deposit of deeds to a person, bona fide, and without notice, will give him a preferable equity; and will overreach the vendor's equitable lien on the estate for any part of the purchase-money.
Similar: exceed, excel, forpass, go beyond, breach, cap, outreach, outcompass, outstep, outstrip, overgo, overpass
- To do something beyond an appropriate limit, or beyond one's ability; to overextend. The British Empire would not have endured so long had it not been for a discreet sense of moderation in its rulers, generation after generation. The coolness displayed towards the colonies by successive British Governments has at least prevented the empire-builders from overreaching themselves.
- Of a horse: to strike the heel of a forefoot with the toe of a hindfoot. Attinto, [...] Alſo when a horſe is tainted or hurt, or ouerreacheth one foote with another, and withal doth hurt a ſinew.
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To deceive, to swindle.
Say, thou that by thy cunning overreachest thy brother in buying, selling, or bargaining, or deceivest the trust reposed in thee by thy friend, couldst thou brook to be in like sort cheated thyself?
Similar: cheat, defraud, abuse, beglammer, counterfeit, deceive, catch, trap into, dissemble, dissimulate, feign, jiff
- To sail on one tack farther than is necessary. Where a sail vessel close hauled and a steam vessel approach so as to involve risk of collision, the rule requiring the sail vessel to keep her course requires her to beat out her tack. [...] She is not required to tack short on signal from the steam vessel when there is danger in so doing, nor need
- To get the better of, especially by artifice or cunning; to outwit. Wee'll ouer-reach the grey-beard Gremio, / The narrow prying father Minola, / The quaint Muſician, amorous Litio, / All for my Maſters ſake Lucentio.
noun overreaches
- An act of extending or reaching over, especially if too far or too much; overextension. It may not be much of a stretch to say that there had always been something comforting about the earlier periods of judicial activism. [...] Ideology aside, one may concede that such Supreme Court activism was far less frightening in its institutional overreach than a wholesale creation of new and p
- Of a horse: an act of striking the heel of a forefoot with the toe of a hindfoot; an injury caused by this action. The hunter's [i.e., hunting horse's] legs should be washed with warm water, carefully examined for thorns, overreaches, &c., and the legs should be rubbed dry, and well hand rubbed, by which means a free circulation of the blood will be promoted.
Translations
Every language
verb to reach above or beyond, especially to an excessive degree
| Español | extralimitarse |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | überschreiten, über etwas hinausgehen |
| Italiano | oltrepassare |
| العربية | أَنَافَ ʔanāfa, غَلَا ḡalā, نَيَّفَ nayyafa, تَطَاوَلَ taṭāwala |
verb to do something beyond an appropriate limit, or beyond one's ability
| Español | pasarse de frenada |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | sich unangemessen verhalten hinsichtlich, überstrapazieren, überspannen |
noun act of extending or reaching over, especially if too far or much — see also overextension
| Español | extralimitación |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Übergriffigkeit, Übergriff |
Talk about this word "overreach." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/overreach. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. overreach. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/overreach "overreach." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/overreach.Cite this
@misc{overreach_2026,
title = {overreach},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/overreach},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
