overboost

overboost verb: to increase an engine's intake manifold pressure to higher levels than it is designed for.

Verb

overboost (third-person singular simple present overboosts, present participle overboosting, simple past and past participle overboosted)

To increase an engine's intake manifold pressure to higher levels than it is designed for.
- It makes sense to provide plausible engine fuel and ignition mapping to the limits of the factory fuel injectors, which would typically be sized sufficiently large to provide optimal fuel to the airflow/boost limits of the stock turpocharger even though the wastegate should normally prevent the...2004, Jeff Hartman, How to Tune and Modify Engine Management Systems, →ISBN, page 86
- Morgan was waiting outside in the bay. Didn't even wait for me to say a word. "What happened? Why did you overboost? You could have blown the whole shuttle, the whole expedition."2006, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., The Eternity Artifact, →ISBN, page 177

overboost (countable and uncountable, plural overboosts)

(uncountable) The process of overboosting.
- It makes sense to provide plausible engine fuel and ignition mapping to the limits of the factory fuel injectors, which would typically be sized sufficiently large to provide optimal fuel to the airflow/boost limits of the stock turpocharger even though the wastegate should normally prevent the...2004, Jeff Hartman, How to Tune and Modify Engine Management Systems, →ISBN, page 86
- These planes all have popoff valves, designed to prevent overboost, but the flow dynamics are such that manifold pressure can seriously overshoot redline before the popoff valve opens.2013, Kas Thomas, Fly the Engine: Second Edition, →ISBN
(countable) An instance of overboosting.
- Manifold pressure exceeding the limit lines shown in figure 5-2, constitutes an overboost.1989, Operator's Manual: Army Models U-8D, RU-8D, and U-8G Aircraft
- By delaying opening of the wastegate, the ECU could generate an overboost at full throttle, increasing boost pressure to 1.1bar, for a peak power delivery of 230bhp in short bursts of up to 30sec at a time.2013, Robert Foskett, Alfa Romeo 916 GTV and Spider: The Complete Story, →ISBN

Overboosting is not something that “just happens.” Usually, it's under the control of the pilot, or can at least be prevented by an alert pilot.2013, Kas Thomas, Fly the Engine: Second Edition, →ISBN:
A manifold pressure overboost control is usually employed to reduce the possibility of overboost occurring.1970, United States Department of the Army, General Aircraft Maintenance Manual, page 7:
Also, be careful you don't get an overboost or too much RPM when you reselect cold.2016, Phil Croucher, Private Helicopter Pilot Studies JAA BW, →ISBN, page 3-55:

Verb
third-person singular present	overboosts
present participle	overboosting
past participle	overboosted
past	overboosted
Noun
plural	overboosts

From over- + boost.

What does overboost mean?: Overboost means to increase an engine's intake manifold pressure to higher levels than it is designed for.
How do you use overboost in a sentence?: Overboosting is not something that “just happens.” Usually, it's under the control of the pilot, or can at least be prevented by an alert pilot.
What part of speech is overboost?: Overboost can be a verb or a noun.
What is the past tense of overboost?: The past tense of overboost is overboosted.

Adapted from Wiktionary: overboost (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “overboost.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/overboost. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.