Meanings
overleave1
present singular third person overleaves · participle present overleaving · participle past overleft · past overleft
- transitiveTo leave (something) over; cause to remain or be left.
And of such force was this verity, so fresh and recent in men's memory, that amongst so many enemies of his, that lay in wait to overleave him with lies, no one was thenceforth found who could refell [deny] these words of Campion.
1999, Saint Edmund Campion, James V. Holleran, A Jesuit Challenge - intransitiveTo remain; be left over.
overleave2
- uncountableA leave which exceeds the approved or prescribed amount of time.
[...] Absence without leave (including overleave and desertion).
1949, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps Manual, 19491 more example
“Didn't you threaten to bobtail one of your sergeants for being drunk and overleave in Shanghai last week?
2011, L Ron Hubbard, Orders Is Orders
Origin
overleave · verb
- Old Englishoferlǣfan“to leave over; be left over, remain”
- Middle Englishoverleven
- Englishoverleave
From Middle English overleven, from Old English oferlǣfan (“to leave over; be left over, remain”), equivalent to over- + leave.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
overleave. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overleave
“overleave.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overleave. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overleave,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overleave.
Source: overleave on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.