overran

Verb

overrun (third-person singular simple present overruns, present participle overrunning, simple past overran, past participle overrun)

1. (transitive) To defeat an enemy and invade in great numbers, seizing the enemy positions conclusively.
   • But news that the North Vietnamese had launched an invasion more akin to the blitzkrieg of Poland than to a Maoist "people's war," and had overrun my old base camp 30 miles up Thunder Road from Saigon, turned my heart to lead.2000 April 26, Walter A. McDougall, “Who Were We in Vietnam?”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 27 May 2015, retrieved 03 Aug 2008
2. (transitive) To infest, swarm over, flow over.
   • The cathedral square was overrun with tourists.
3. (transitive) To run past; to run beyond.
   • The athlete overran the finish line and kept going.
   1. (transitive) To run past the end of.
      • The aircraft didn't stop in time and overran the runway.
4. (intransitive) To continue for too long.
   • The performance overran by ten minutes, which caused some people to miss their bus home.

   Synonyms:

   run over

5. (transitive) To carry (some type, a line or column, etc.) backward or forward into an adjacent line or page.

   Synonyms:

   run over

See all 13 meanings of overrun