OVERREACH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does overreach mean? 

• OVERREACH (verb)
  The verb OVERREACH has 2 senses:

1. fail by aiming too high or trying too hard

2. beat through cleverness and wit

  Familiarity information: OVERREACH used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OVERREACH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they overreach    ... he / she / it overreaches   
Past simple: overreached   
Past participle: overreached   
-ing form: overreaching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fail by aiming too high or trying too hard

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "overreach" is one way to...):

fail; go wrong; miscarry (be unsuccessful)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Beat through cleverness and wit

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

beat; circumvent; outfox; outsmart; outwit; overreach

Context example:

She outfoxed her competitors

Hypernyms (to "overreach" is one way to...):

exceed; outdo; outgo; outmatch; outperform; outstrip; surmount; surpass (be or do something to a greater degree)

Verb group:

beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish (come out better in a competition, race, or conflict)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot overreach Sue

 Context examples 

It may be profitable to you to reflect, in future, that there never were greed and cunning in the world yet, that did not do too much, and overreach themselves.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)