override

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UK/əʊ.vəˈɹaɪd/US/oʊ.vɚˈɹaɪd/UK/ˈəʊ.vəˌɹaɪd/US/ˈoʊ.vɚˌɹaɪd/

verb

To ride across or beyond something.

“Congress promptly overrode the president's veto, passing the bill into law.”

CommonScrabble 12

Meanings

verboverride (third-person singular simple present overrides, present participle overriding, simple past overrode, past participle overridden)

present singular third person overrides · participle present overriding · past overrode · participle past overridden

  1. transitiveTo ride across or beyond something.

    Around 50 people were evacuated from a rush-hour London Overground service on October 12, after an eight-car train overrode the buffers at Enfield Town station.

    2021 October 20, “Network News: Commuter train crashes into buffers at Enfield Town”, in RAIL, number 942, page 8
  2. transitiveTo ride over the top of something, usually forcibly.
    1 more example

    Separation of the caboose from the VAN train had caused the train to go into emergency braking and when Extra 3119 West struck the third rack car, the car overrode the locomotive, destroyed the remaining superstructure, and caused the locomotive to overturn the north rail. The near-instantaneous derailment of the rest of the train followed immediately.

    1981 August 18, National Transportation Safety Board, “Collision and Derailment”, in Railroad Accident Report: Rear-End Collision of Union Pacific Railroad Company Freight Trains Extra 3119 West and Extra 8044 West, Near Kelso, California, November 17, 1980, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2022, page 6
  3. transitiveTo ride a horse too hard.
  4. intransitivetransitiveTo counteract the normal operation of something; to countermand with orders of higher priority.

    Congress promptly overrode the president's veto, passing the bill into law.

    5 more examples

    In automotive design, safety should override lesser factors such as cosmetics and corner-cutting.

    The needs of the windmill must override everything else, he said.

    1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC

    The power of the stories overrides everything else. The quiet starkness of the telling: […]

    2013 February 17, Bob Greene, “America’s ‘Slave Narratives’ should shock us”, in CNN

    The Federal Aviation Administration initially overrode its own engineers’ recommendations in 2019 to ground the Boeing 737 Max after a second fatal crash, according to a new watchdog report.

    2023 April 28, Greg Wallace, “FAA headquarters initially overrode its own engineers’ 737 Max grounding recommendation”, in CNN

    “The first time I was overridden, on the Congressional district map, I said the bill was illegal and I expected the courts would throw it out. The courts have done so,” Edwards said in his statement Tuesday. “Today, I was overridden for the second time… I expect the courts to throw out this unconstitutional bill, as well.”

    2023 July 18, Jack Forrest, “Louisiana legislature overrides governor’s veto of ban on gender-affirming care for minors”, in CNN
  5. transitiveTo give commands of a higher priority to an automated system; to take manual control of an automated system

    Manual controls allow the user to override the camera's default settings.

  6. transitiveobject-oriented programmingTo define a new behaviour of a method by creating the same method of the superclass with the same name and signature.

    How the cat runs is defined in the method run() of the class Cat, which overrides the same method with the same signature of superclass called Mammal.

nounoverride (plural overrides)

plural overrides

  1. A mechanism, device or procedure used to counteract an automatic control.

    The bill passed with 72 members voting for the override and 46 against.

    2024 December 11, Arit John, “North Carolina’s GOP-controlled legislature erodes incoming Democrats’ political powers”, in CNN
  2. A device for prioritizing audio signals, such that certain signals receive priority over others.
  3. object-oriented programmingA method with the same name and signature as a method in a superclass, which runs instead of that method, when an object of the subclass is involved.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe act of nullifying; making null and void; counteracting or overriding the effect or force of something

verbrule against

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Englishoferrīdan
  2. Middle Englishoverriden
  3. Englishoverride

From Middle English overriden, from Old English oferrīdan, equivalent to over- + ride. Cognate with Dutch overrijden, German überreiten, Danish override.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian пресилвам, отменям
  • пресилвам (presilvam)to ride a horse too hard
  • отменям (otmenjam)to counteract the normal operation of something
Catalan revocar, sobreescriure
  • revocarto counteract the normal operation of something
  • sobreescriure(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
Chinese Mandarin 重写
  • 重写 (chóngxiě)(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
Dutch afjakkeren
  • afjakkerento ride a horse too hard
Finnish ratsastaa poikki, ratsastaa yli
  • ratsastaa poikkito ride across or beyond something
  • ratsastaa ylito ride across or beyond something
  • ratsastaa liian kovaato ride a horse too hard
  • ratsastaa väsyksiinto ride a horse too hard
  • kumotato counteract the normal operation of something
  • syrjäyttää(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
  • rojaltia royalty
French outrepasser, outrepasser
  • outrepasserto ride across or beyond something
  • outrepasserto counteract the normal operation of something
  • redéfinir(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
German übersteuern, überschreiben
  • übersteuernto counteract the normal operation of something
  • überschreiben(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
Greek επικαλύπτω, υποσκελίζω
  • επικαλύπτω (epikalýpto)(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
  • υποσκελίζω (yposkelízo)(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
Hungarian felülbírálni
  • felülbírálnito counteract the normal operation of something
Italian oltrepassare, forzare
  • oltrepassareto ride across or beyond something
  • forzareto counteract the normal operation of something
  • bypassareto counteract the normal operation of something
  • ridefinire(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
Japanese 酷使する, 覆す
  • 酷使する (kokushi suru)to ride a horse too hard
  • 覆す (kutsugaesu)to counteract the normal operation of something
  • オーバーライド (ōbāraido)a mechanism, device or procedure used to counteract an automatic control
  • 優先 (yūsen)a royalty
  • 優待 (yūtai)a royalty
Norwegian motvirke, overstyre
  • motvirketo counteract the normal operation of something
  • overstyreto counteract the normal operation of something
Persian روسواردن, روسواردن
  • روسواردنto counteract the normal operation of something
  • روسواردن(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
Polish nadpisać
  • nadpisać(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
Portuguese sobrepor, contornar
  • sobreporto counteract the normal operation of something
  • contornarto counteract the normal operation of something
  • anularto counteract the normal operation of something
  • sobrepor(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
Russian переопределить
  • переопределить (pereopredelitʹ)(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
Spanish hacer caso omiso de, anteponerse a
  • hacer caso omiso deto counteract the normal operation of something
  • anteponerse ato counteract the normal operation of something
Swedish åsidosätta
  • åsidosättato counteract the normal operation of something
Tamil ரத்து செய்தல்
  • ரத்து செய்தல் (rattu ceytal)a mechanism, device or procedure used to counteract an automatic control
Turkish zorlamak
  • zorlamakto counteract the normal operation of something
Vietnamese ghi đè
  • ghi đè(software) To define a new behaviour of a method
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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