Meanings
present singular third person overstrains · participle present overstraining · participle past overstrained · past overstrained
- ambitransitiveTo subject to an excessive demand on strength, resources, abilities, or the imagination.
Clover warned him sometimes to be careful not to overstrain himself, but Boxer would never listen to her.
1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC1 more example
The very phrase of "generous forbearance" shocked her as overstrained; but she did marvel that Lord Avonleigh felt neither pained nor embarrassed in a situation where such sensations seemed inevitable.
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 134
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian пренапрягам, преуморявам
- пренапрягам (prenaprjagam)subject to an excessive demand
- преуморявам (preumorjavam)subject to an excessive demand
Dutch overbelasten
- overbelastensubject to an excessive demand
German überlasten, überfordern
- überlastensubject to an excessive demand
- überfordernsubject to an excessive demand
Hungarian túlfeszít, túlerőltet
- túlfeszítsubject to an excessive demand
- túlerőltetsubject to an excessive demand
- megerőltetsubject to an excessive demand
Swedish överanstränga
- överansträngasubject to an excessive demand
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
overstrain. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overstrain
“overstrain.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overstrain. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overstrain,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overstrain.
Source: overstrain on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.