overwrite

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overwrite

/əʊ.vəˈɹaɪt/ UK
/oʊ.vɚˈɹaɪt/ US

verb overwrites · overwriting · overwrote · overwritten

transitive To destroy (older) data by recording new data over it. I accidentally saved my unwanted changes and overwrote the version of the document I wanted to keep.
transitive To cover in writing; to write over the top of.
ambitransitive To write too much. Many trainees consider that by increasing the length of the piece they will construct a good feature. This is often not the case and overwriting can lead to vague and muddled features that confuse the reader and ultimately lose their interest.
ambitransitive To write in an unnecessarily complicated or florid way; to produce purple prose. The Times of course has to pay the price of encyclopaedism by being often dreadfully overwritten, with long paragraphs connected by motley conjunctions.

noun overwrites

The operation of destroying older data by recording new data over it. Tab to the number specifying the number of overwrites and enter a number between 1 and 9.

Translations

Every language

verb destroy old data

Español	sobrescribir, planchar
日本語	上書き uwagaki
Português	sobrescrever
Français	écraser
Deutsch	überschreiben
Italiano	sovrascrivere
Română	suprascriere de date
Русский	перезапи́сывать perezapísyvatʹ, перезаписа́ть perezapisátʹ
Tiếng Việt	ghi đè

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{overwrite_2026,
  title = {overwrite},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/overwrite},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}