Meaning & use
exceed
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To be greater than a set number, amount, or limit.
Grammar: Always takes an object: the bill exceeded the budget.
Patterns
- exceed something
- exceed a limit by something
Please do not exceed the recommended dose.
Visitor numbers exceeded 10,000 for the first time this summer.
The truck was fined because its weight exceeded the legal limit.
verbtransitive
To turn out better or larger than what someone hoped for or predicted.
Grammar: Takes an object such as hopes or expectations: the result exceeded our hopes.
Patterns
- exceed expectations
- exceed someone's hopes
The new phone exceeded my expectations in every way.
Sales exceeded what the team had forecast.
Her performance exceeded anything the coach had hoped for.
Word forms
| third person singular | exceeds |
|---|---|
| past tense | exceeded |
| past participle | exceeded |
| -ing form | exceeding |
Common combinations
- exceed the speed limit
- He was stopped for exceeding the speed limit on the highway.
- exceed expectations
- The little restaurant exceeded all our expectations.
- exceed a budget
- The renovation exceeded the budget by almost a third.
- far exceed
- Demand for tickets far exceeded supply.
- not to exceed
- Essays should be five pages, not to exceed six.
Synonyms and how they differ
- surpass
- Surpass stresses beating a standard or rival in quality, whereas exceed is mostly about passing a number or limit.
- top
- Top is shorter and more informal, and it suits records and totals more than rules or limits.
- outstrip
- Outstrip suggests one thing growing faster than another, so it fits supply and demand better than exceed does.
- overshoot
- Overshoot implies going past a target by mistake, while exceed can be neutral or even welcome.
Opposites
Word family
- excess noun
- an amount beyond what is needed or allowed
- excessive adjective
- going beyond what is reasonable
- excessively adverb
- to a degree that is too great
- exceeding adjective
- very great, mostly in the older form exceedingly
- exceedingly adverb
- extremely
Commonly confused: exceed or accede? exceed or excel?
exceed vs accede
Accede means to agree to a demand or take up a position, and it sounds almost the same. You exceed a limit but accede to a request.
exceed vs excel
Excel means to be very good at something, as in excel at math, and it is not used with a limit or number.
Practice
The cost of the project ___ the original estimate by nearly 40 percent.
Choose one answer.
Exceeded means went beyond the estimate. Acceded means agreed, and excelled would need at before a skill, so neither fits.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “exceed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.