What does "overset" mean?
Copy or type set in excess of a given space; (countable) an instance of this.
Overset
/ˌəʊvəˈsɛt/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Copy or type set in excess of a given space; (countable) an instance of this.
- Grammar: overset is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: balance, be lost, bonus, capsizal.
- Usage evidence: Then Chloe raised the pipe to her lips and blew with all her strength, and the cows hearing the pipe and recognising the notes began to low and all at once leaped into the sea. As they all plunged from the same side the vessel was overset, the waves closed over it and it sank.
How to use "overset"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "overset" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "overset" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "overset" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "overset" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "overset" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "balance" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "overset", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Copy or type set in excess of a given space; (countable) an instance of this. uncountable
- 2 An act of knocking over or overturning; a capsize or capsizing, an overturning, an upset. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"[…] I vvas upon the Rock vvhen their Boat vvas daſh'd againſt it, and vvas over-ſet vvith the ſame Sea, under the flat bottom'd Boat, vvhere you found me. That vvas a happy Overſet for thee; vvell, is there no Gratitude due to Providence for thy Eſcape? due to Providence, ſaid he, vvhy, I thought you had ſav'd me?"
- 3 An excess, a surplus. countable, obsolete, rare, uncountable
"And vvith this overſet of vvealth and pomp, that came on men in the decline of their parts and age, they, vvho vvere novv grovving into old age, became lazy and negligent in all the true concerns of the Church: […]"
Verb
- 1 To knock over or overturn (someone or something); to capsize, to upset. transitive
"For ſtill thy eyes, vvhich I may call the ſea, / Do ebbe and flovve vvith teares, the Barke thy body is: / Sayling in this ſalt floud, the vvindes thy ſighes, / Who raging vvith thy teares and they vvith them, / VVithout a ſudden calme vvill ouerſet / Thy tempeſt toſſed body."
- 2 To physically or mentally disturb (someone); to upset; specifically, to make (someone) ill, especially nauseous; to nauseate, to sicken. figuratively, transitive
"O Lord, O Lord, ſhe's mad, poor Young VVoman, Love has turn'd her ſenſes, her Brain is quite overſet."
- 3 To throw (something, such as an organization, a plan, etc.) into confusion or out of order; to subvert, to unsettle, to upset. figuratively, transitive
"[H]ad not the old Man run and fetch'd me a Cordial, I believe the ſudden Surprize of Joy had overſet Nature, and I had dy'd upon the Spot."
- 4 To translate (a text). figuratively, rare, transitive
"Overset into English, after the spirits and measures of the authentical; by Dr. Heinrich Krauss, Ph.D., and so wider."
- 5 To set (copy or type) in excess of a given space. figuratively, transitive
"Other [newspaper] articles, again, are rejected because there is no time to consider them, or because they are badly written, and the printers have no time to lose in bungling over hieroglyphics. The overseer now sees that he will have too much matter; and although all the week he has been declaring that he has been kept short of copy, now goes on the opposite tack, to avoid upsetting, or, as he says, "oversetting.""
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 To recover from (an illness). Scotland, figuratively, transitive
- 7 To cover (the surface of something) with objects. obsolete, transitive
"Item, the bishop's great mitre, all oversett with orient pearle and stones, and silver ourgilt, the haill mitre extending to 5 pound 15 ounce weight."
- 8 To oppress or overwhelm (someone, their thoughts, etc.); to beset; also, to overpower or overthrow (someone, an army, a people, etc.) by force; to defeat, to overwhelm. obsolete, transitive
"[…] Brennus [i.e., Brennius] entending to haue more lande or all, aroſe againſt his brother Belyne [Belinus], and made vpon him ſharpe and mortall warre. In the which warre Brennus was ouerſet and compelled to flie the lande, and to ſayle to Armorica, nowe named little Briteyn, […]"
- 9 To press (something) down heavily; to compress; also, to choke (a plant). obsolete, transitive
"[T]he more they [holy plants] vvere oppreſsd and overſet vvith the vveight of Perſecution, the faſter, ſtronger, and ſtreighter they grevv up."
- 10 To put too heavy a load on (something); to overload. obsolete, transitive
"[C]oming (for more frugality) in the common Boat, vvhich vvas overſet vvith Merchandize, and other Paſſengers, in a thick fog, the Veſſel turn'd over, and ſo many periſh'd, the Prince Palſgrave ſav'd himſelf by ſvvimming, but the young Prince clinging to the Maſt, and being entangled among the Tacklings, vvas half drovvn'd and half frozen to death: A ſad Deſtiny."
- 11 To come to rest over (something); to settle. obsolete, rare, transitive
"It [tobacco] is a good Companion to one that converſeth vvith dead Men [i.e., reads books], for if one hath been poring long upon a Book, or is toil'd vvith the Pen, and ſtupified vvith Study, it quickneth him, and diſpels thoſe Clouds that uſually o'erſet the Brain."
- 12 To impose too heavy a tax on (someone); to overtax. figuratively, obsolete, rare, transitive
"For thieves love among themselves: and so do the covetous of the world, as the usurers and publicans, which brought in great the emperor's tribute, and to make their most advantage, did overset the people."
- 13 To recover (money) given in an exchange. obsolete, transitive
"[H]e that dealeth in barter muſt be very circumſpect, and the Money giuen in barter cannot be overſet."
- 14 To coil or stow away (a cable, a rope, etc.). obsolete, transitive
- 15 To turn, or to be turned, over; to capsize; to, or to be, upset. archaic, intransitive
"[T]his Raft vvas ſo unvveildy, and ſo overloaden, that after I vvas enter'd the little Cove, vvhere I had landed the reſt of my Goods, not being able to guide it ſo handily as I did the other, it overſet, and threvv me and all my Cargoe into the VVater; […]"
- 16 Of a person or thing (such as an organization or plan): to become unbalanced or thrown into confusion; to be put into disarray. intransitive, obsolete
"But, while kingdoms overset, / Or lapse from hand to hand, / Thy leaf shall never fail, nor yet / Thine acorn in the land."
Adjective
- 1 Having been overset (verb sense).; Capsized, overturned, upset. not-comparable
"They groped their way, pushing and panting, to the road again, where, beholding the overset buggy with its wheels ludicrously in the air, they suddenly seized and shook each other, and in an outburst of hilarious ecstasy, fairly laughed until the tears came into their eyes."
- 2 Having been overset (verb sense).; Of copy or type: set in excess of a given space. not-comparable
Example
"Then Chloe raised the pipe to her lips and blew with all her strength, and the cows hearing the pipe and recognising the notes began to low and all at once leaped into the sea. As they all plunged from the same side the vessel was overset, the waves closed over it and it sank."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "overset"?
Common synonyms include: balance, be lost, bonus, capsizal, capsize, careen.
How do you use "overset" in a sentence?
Then Chloe raised the pipe to her lips and blew with all her strength, and the cows hearing the pipe and recognising the notes began to low and all at once leaped into the sea. As they all plunged from the same side the vessel was overset, the waves closed over it and it sank.
How do you pronounce "overset"?
Pronounced /ˌəʊvəˈsɛt/.
Etymology
PIE word *upér The verb is derived from Middle English oversetten (“to place or set over, cover; to assail; to defeat, overcome, overpower, overthrow; to defer; to discredit, refute; to disregard, overlook, set aside; to hinder; to oppress; to repulse”), from Old English ofersettan (“to put in a position of authority; to overcome or be overcome; to set over”), from Proto-West Germanic *ubarsattjan (“to place above, set over; to establish, install”), from *ubarsittjan (“to abstain from, neglect; to occupy, possess; to sit over or upon”), from *ubar- (prefix meaning ‘above, over’) + *sittjan (“to sit”) (from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną (“to sit”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”)). By surface analysis, over- (prefix meaning ‘above, higher; excessive, excessively’) + set (verb). Doublet of oversit. Verb sense 1.2.3 (“to translate (a text)”) is probably a calque of German übersetzen. The adjective is derived from overset, the past participle form of the verb. The noun is also derived from the verb. cognates * Dutch overzetten (“to ferry, transport, translate”) * Old High German ubarsezzen (Middle High German übersetzen, modern German übersetzen (“to cross over, translate”)) * Saterland Frisian uursätte (“to cross over, translate”) * Swedish översätta (“to translate”) * West Frisian oersette (“to translate”)