Meanings
present singular third person overheats · participle present overheating · participle past overheated · past overheated
- transitiveTo heat excessively.
'Made one quite thankful to get back to the fug, though as a rule I think the way these trains are overheated is something scandalous'.
1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 8, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 131 - intransitiveTo become excessively hot.
- economicsTo grow too quickly in an uncontrolled way.
Dalio said that the Chinese economy was in danger of overheating, and somebody asked how a Chinese slowdown would affect the price of oil and other commodities.
2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN
plural overheats
- A condition of being overheated.
Continued operation with an overheat could lead to other serious problems, perhaps even a fire.
2002, Earl Rogers, Captain, page 245
Origin
- Middle Englishoverheten
- Englishoverheat
From Middle English overheten. Cognate with German überheizen, überhitzen (“to overheat”), Swedish överhetta (“to overheat”). By surface analysis, over- + heat.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian прегрявам, прегрявам се
- прегрявам (pregrjavam)heat excessively
- прегрявам се (pregrjavam se)become excessively hot
- прегряване (pregrjavane)condition
Catalan sobreescalfar
- sobreescalfarbecome excessively hot
Chinese Mandarin 過熱 /过热, 過熱 /过热
- 過熱 /过热 (guòrè)heat excessively
- 過熱 /过热 (guòrè)become excessively hot
- 失控增長 /失控增长 (shīkòng zēngzhǎng)grow too quickly
- 過熱 /过热 (guòrè)condition
Finnish ylikuumentaa, ylilämmittää
- ylikuumentaaheat excessively
- ylilämmittääheat excessively
- ylikuumetabecome excessively hot
- ylikuumentuabecome excessively hot
- ylikuumetagrow too quickly
- ylikuumeneminencondition
- ylilämpöcondition
French surchauffer
- surchaufferheat excessively
German überhitzen, überhitzen
- überhitzenheat excessively
- überhitzenbecome excessively hot
Hungarian túlfűt, túlhevít
- túlfűtheat excessively
- túlhevítheat excessively
- túlmelegszikbecome excessively hot
- túlhevülbecome excessively hot
Polish przegrzewać, przegrzać
- przegrzewaćheat excessively
- przegrzaćheat excessively
- przegrzewać siębecome excessively hot
- przegrzać siębecome excessively hot
Portuguese sobreaquecer, rescaldar
- sobreaquecerheat excessively
- rescaldarbecome excessively hot
- sobreaquecerbecome excessively hot
Russian перегрева́ть, перегре́ть
- перегрева́ть (peregrevátʹ)heat excessively
- перегре́ть (peregrétʹ)heat excessively
- перегрева́ться (peregrevátʹsja)become excessively hot
- перегре́ться (peregrétʹsja)become excessively hot
Spanish sobrecalentar, recalentar
- sobrecalentarheat excessively
- recalentarheat excessively
- rechizarheat excessively
- sobrecalentarsebecome excessively hot
- recalentarsebecome excessively hot
Swedish överhetta
- överhettaheat excessively
Ukrainian перегріва́ти, перегрі́ти
- перегріва́ти (perehriváty)heat excessively
- перегрі́ти (perehríty)heat excessively
- перегріва́тися (perehrivátysja)become excessively hot
- перегрі́тися (perehrítysja)become excessively hot
Vietnamese trở nên quá nóng
- trở nên quá nóngbecome excessively hot
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with overheat
Anagrams
Cite this entry
overheat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overheat
“overheat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overheat. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overheat,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overheat.
Source: overheat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.