overdrive
English edit
Pronunciation edit
- (verb) IPA(key): /ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈdɹaɪv/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- (noun) IPA(key): /ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌdɹaɪv/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English overdriven, from Old English oferdrīfan, equivalent to over- + drive. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uurdrieuwe (“to overdo, overstate”), Dutch overdrijven (“to exaggerate”), German Low German overdrieven, överdrieven (“to overdo, exaggerate”), German übertreiben (“to overdo, exaggerate”), Norwegian overdrive (“to exaggerate”).
Verb edit
overdrive (third-person singular simple present overdrives, present participle overdriving, simple past overdrove, past participle overdriven)
- (transitive) To drive too hard, or far, or beyond strength.
Etymology 2 edit
From over- + drive From the gear over "D" (drive) in an automatic transmission vehicle.
Noun edit
overdrive (countable and uncountable, plural overdrives)
- (dated, automotive) A gear, on an automobile, higher than the normal top gear.
- 1981 October, Popular Mechanics, volume 156, number 4, page 201:
- Cruising in overdrive at legal highway speed keeps rpm right at 1800, depending on rear-axle ratio.
- (uncountable, figurative) A state of heightened activity.
- 2000, Salman Rushdie, The ground beneath her feet, page 78:
- It is true, though it's got nothing to do with me, that the building boom that created the Bombay of my childhood went into overdrive in the years before my birth
Synonyms edit
(abbreviation)
Coordinate terms edit
- 4th gear (in an automatic transmission vehicle)
- 5th gear (in a manual transmission vehicle)
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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See also edit
Norwegian Bokmål edit
Etymology edit
over- + drive; after German übertreiben
Verb edit
overdrive (imperative overdriv, present tense overdriver, simple past overdrev or overdreiv, past participle overdrevet, present participle overdrivende)
- to exaggerate (overstate, to describe more than is fact)
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
References edit
- “overdrive” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Adjective edit
overdrive
- neuter of overdriven
Verb edit
overdrive (present tense overdriv, past tense overdreiv, supine overdrive, past participle overdriven, present participle overdrivande, imperative overdriv)
- Alternative form of overdriva