overrunning

Meanings

1. 1verbintransitive

   Going on for longer, or costing more, than planned or allowed.

   Grammar: No object: the meeting is overrunning. It may take a measure: overrunning by an hour.

   Patterns

   • overrunning by an hour
   • overrunning the budget

   The conference is overrunning again, so lunch will be late.

   The project keeps overrunning its budget because of repeated design changes.

   Our appointment started late and is now overrunning by twenty minutes.

2. 2verbtransitive

   Spreading over a place in large harmful numbers, or taking control of it by force.

   Grammar: Takes an object: weeds are overrunning the garden.

   Patterns

   • overrunning a place
   • overrunning an area

   Rats are overrunning the old warehouse near the harbor.

   Weeds are overrunning the vegetable beds this summer.

   Enemy troops were overrunning the border posts by dawn.

3. 3verbtransitive or intransitive

   Moving past a point where something should have stopped, such as a runway or a stop line.

   Grammar: Often takes an object: the plane is overrunning the runway.

   Patterns

   • overrunning the runway
   • overrunning a signal

   The freight train was overrunning the signal when the driver braked.

   The pilot feared the jet was overrunning the wet runway.

Word forms

Common combinations

overrunning costs

Overrunning costs forced the council to cancel the second phase.

overrunning schedule

Delays left the construction overrunning schedule by months.

overrunning the time limit

The speaker was overrunning the time limit again.

overrunning the runway

Investigators examined why the plane was overrunning the runway.

overrunning with pests

The barn was overrunning with mice.

Synonyms and how they differ

exceeding

Exceeding is a plain, neutral word for going past a limit, while overrunning suggests going past it unintentionally or in a way that causes trouble.

infesting

Infesting is for pests or disease living in a place, whereas overrunning can also describe armies and plants.

invading

Invading stresses entering by force, while overrunning implies that the place has been swamped or captured completely.

dragging on

Dragging on is informal and stresses boredom, while overrunning simply states that time has gone past the plan.

Opposites

Word family

overrun verb

to go beyond a limit or spread over a place

overrun noun

an excess of time or cost beyond the plan

overran verb

past tense of overrun

cost overrun noun

spending beyond a budget

Commonly confused: overrunning or overrunning vs. overriding?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “overrunning”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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