overhunting

O1V4E1R1H4U1N1T1I1N1G2

noun

Hunting at unsustainable levels.

OriginEnglish hunting ← Middle English over- ← Old English ofer- →
Scrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounoverhunting (uncountable)
  1. uncountableHunting at unsustainable levels.

    When the mighty elk herds of the West were facing the possibility of extinction from overhunting, settlement and neglect a century ago, people here stepped forward and began what has turned out to be a profound biological experiment.

    2009 February 18, Kirk Johnson, “Debate Rages Over Elk Feeding Program”, in New York Times
verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of overhunt

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úp
  2. Proto-Indo-European*upér
  3. Proto-Germanic*uber
  4. Old Englishofer-
  5. Middle Englishover-
  6. Englishover-
  7. Englishhunting
  8. Englishoverhunting

From over- + hunting.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch overbejaging
  • overbejaginghunting at unsustainable levels
Finnish liikametsästys, ylimetsästys
  • liikametsästyshunting at unsustainable levels
  • ylimetsästyshunting at unsustainable levels
  • riistometsästyshunting at unsustainable levels
French surchasse
  • surchassehunting at unsustainable levels
Hungarian túlvadászat
  • túlvadászathunting at unsustainable levels
Polish nadmierne polowanie
  • nadmierne polowaniehunting at unsustainable levels
Cite this entry
APA

overhunting. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overhunting

MLA

“overhunting.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overhunting. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overhunting,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overhunting.

Source: overhunting on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.