overshift

/ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌʃɪft/

overshift noun: the strategy or act of positioning defensive players extra far toward the offense's strong side, leaving portions of the field or court undefended.

Noun

overshift (plural overshifts)

The strategy or act of positioning defensive players extra far toward the offense's strong side, leaving portions of the field or court undefended.
- The chart, representing two players, shows how the overshift principle forces the offensive player to traverse a greater distance than the defensive player who is guarding him.1975, William Albert Healey, Joseph W. Hartley, Basketball's ten greatest defenses, page 24
- By using the overshift, you can also develop a good stunting game that will not leave you wide open in case of fullback traps or even option plays.1977, Coach and Athlete - Volume 40, page 28
The amount of displacement in the layers in a crystal lattice that places the layers too far apart for molecular bonding.
- The protruding basal oxygens are themselves displaced slightly in the x-direction so that the shift required is either 0.4 + δÅ (overshift) or 0.4 -δ Å (undershift).1983, Leslie Michaels, Seymour S. Chissick, R. Derricott, Asbestos, properties, applications, and hazards, →ISBN, page 114
- In the structure of chrysotile 2M_(c1) illustrated in Figure 7.6 is approximately 0.1 Å, and so overshift is 0.5 Å and the undershift is 0.3 Å, occurring in successive layers to produce a two-layer unit cell with B = 93.3°.1988, Sturges W. Bailey, Reviews in Mineralogy - Volume 19, page 105
A misalignment resulting from shifting gears too far.
- Back off second speed, overshift stop screw slightly, and determine that speed poppet is seated in notch. Tighten screw to permit a very slight overshift of lever to rear.1971, Chilton's Auto Repair Manual, 1940-1953, page 624
- One other derailleur problem I should mention is that of chain overshift or overshooting the gear you select.1982, Eugene A. Sloane, Eugene A. Sloane's bicycle maintenance manual, page 88
A change that results in something being moved too far or too many things being moved.
- Free migration would result in an overshift of population into urban areas and probably an overshift out of interior regions.1985, World Bank Staff Working Paper, →ISBN, page 95
- These exceptional vowel qualities represent overshifts and nonshifts, and they are very consistently maintained in the local dialects.1989, Eung-Do Cook, Keren D. Rice, Athapaskan Linguistics: Current Perspectives on a Language Family, →ISBN
A work period that extends significantly beyond the normal eight-hour shift; An instance of involuntary overtime.
- Only two overshifts at the outside can be required in one week; and the regular working period must not be increased by more than two hours.1895, Engineering and Mining Journal - Volume 59, page 562
- After the revolution, the coming into power of the Socialists, as the only compact and organized party, raised very extravagant hopes with all workmen, and one of the first acts of the new men was the introduction of a maximum working day of eight hours, with prohibition of overshifts.1920, The Century - Volume 100, page 256
An overhang caused by seismic shift.
- ... the area has neotectonic characteristics : stiff carbonatic rocks are thrusted and folded each over the other originating inverse faults and overshifts.1989, Charles Alan Kircher, Anil K. Chopra, Seismic engineering, research and practice
An unfitted woman's overgarment.
- The two slaves who dressed her hurried forward, one with the nearly translucent overshift, the other with the heavy collar of onyx and gold that held it in place.2011, Tanya Huff, Nights of the Round Table: And Other Stories of Heroic Fantasy, →ISBN

Verb

overshift (third-person singular simple present overshifts, present participle overshifting, simple past and past participle overshifted)

To position defensive players too far in a particular direction.
- In addition, overshifting to one side and undershifting to the other may be used as a defensive plan to meet personnel or field problems.1962, David M. Nelson, Football; Principles and Play, page 39
- At times the defense will overshift because of anxiousness, aggressiveness, or anticipation. Emphasis on the passing option available will diagnose in what position and situation on the floor that the defense has a tendency to overshift.1973, Richard W. Harvey, Coaching Basketball's Multiple Set Zone Offense, page 123
To overshoot when changing gears.
- The objects of the invention are to automatically throw off the power and to apply the brake in such a manner that it will have no tendency to produce too sudden a stop or to overshift and release before the car has stopped.1905, Specifications and Drawings of Patents Issued from the United States Patent Office for January 1905
- Back off second speed, overshift stop screw slightly, and determine that speed poppet is seated in notch.1971, Chilton's Auto Repair Manual, 1940-1953, page 624
To move too great an amount or move something too far.
- But I think there is this tendency to overshift the responsibility with this doctrine, and that is my genuine concern and why I could not agree to go along with it.1965, Maine Legislature, Legislative Record - Volume 2, page 2423
- Usually a beginner overshifts just as a beginning driver oversteers an automible for the first few times.1978, Burton Stanley, Instrument Repair for the Music Teacher, →ISBN, page 58
To raise the price to consumers by more than an underlying cost increase that results from rising taxes.
- Concavity of demand leads to undershifting and sufficient convexity to overshifting.1995, Gareth D. Myles, Public Economics, →ISBN, page 363
- However, according to Kay and Keen (1991), neither undershifting of both taxes, nor overshifting of both, is a plausible scenario under the quality model.2003, Public Relations Review: A Journal of Research and Comment
To replant or repot too soon or too often.
- We presume it to be a plant requiring to be grown in peat earth, and :to have the pots in which it is, grown well and carefully drained of superfluous water; and we should further suppose it undesirable to overshift it, especially while young, and in an unestablished condition.1849, Annals of Horticulture - Volume 4, page 155
- Particular care must be taken not to overshift such kinds as E. tricolor and its varieties, retorta, Hartnellii, &c. During their progress in growth, attention must be given to train and form the plants as may be desired.1852, The Floricultural Cabinet, and Florists' Magazine - Volume 20, page 34

Examples of overshift in a sentence

The overshift works well against left-handed hitters who pull the ball farthest to the right.2011, Evander Lomke, Martin Rowe, Right Off the Bat: Baseball, Cricket, Literature, & Life, →ISBN, page 61:
These large overshifts increase the value of the monoclinic β angle over the ideal value by 1-2° in muscovite-IM.1997, Robert Andrew Howie, J. Zussman, Rock-forming minerals - Volume 3, Part 1, →ISBN, page 288:
Damaging chain overshifts from misadjusted derailleurs can occur after wheel swaps, but they're avoidable.2010, Todd Downs, The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance & Repair, →ISBN, page 52:
She initiates the pattern with pelvic elevation and a strong overshift of her trunk to the left as she circumducts and lifts her leg with knee extension.2015, Suzanne Tink Martin, Mary Kessler, Neurologic Interventions for Physical Therapy, →ISBN, page 354:

Forms of overshift

Noun
plural	overshifts
Verb
third-person singular present	overshifts
present participle	overshifting
past participle	overshifted
past	overshifted

Origin of overshift

From over- + shift.

Questions about overshift

What does overshift mean?: Overshift means the strategy or act of positioning defensive players extra far toward the offense's strong side, leaving portions of the field or court undefended.
How do you use overshift in a sentence?: The overshift works well against left-handed hitters who pull the ball farthest to the right.
What part of speech is overshift?: Overshift can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce overshift?: Overshift is pronounced /ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌʃɪft/.
What is the plural of overshift?: The plural of overshift is overshifts.

Words near overshift in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: overshift (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

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-overshift.wav.

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