overspin
US/ˈoʊvɚˌspɪn/
overspin noun: an excessive amount of spin applied to a projectile such that its nose does not turn down at the summit of the trajectory.
Noun
overspin (uncountable)
- An excessive amount of spin applied to a projectile such that its nose does not turn down at the summit of the trajectory.
- Jumping from side to side like a cat, three times he volleyed fine volleys of his opponents, and at length netted a magnificent lift-drive by Wilding the overspin of which made it dive for the ground.1916, A. Wallis Myers, “Davis Cup Memories”, in Captain Anthony Wilding, London: Hodder and Stoughton, page 185
- Because of its construction, the putter is said to eliminate the underspin, sidespin, skipping and skidding of the ball that other putters put on the ball. Instead, Dalton says, it puts 44 degrees of overspin on the ball before it ever hits the ground.2000 April 12, Victoria Sun, “New putter gets some positive spin”, in Las Vegas Sun
- A rotational motion, especially that given to a ball, in which the upper surface spins in the direction of motion; topspin;top.
- What is wanted is just the reverse - i.e top or overspin, which causes the ball to revolve in the direction in which it is going.1886, E.T.Sachs, The Boys Own Annual: Lawn-Tennis of the Present, volume 9, page 778
- Then may come that particular feature of Tennis—the Cut. In this one does not strike the ball fair and square as at Cricket and Racquets; still less does one give the ball what may be called the overspin, to make it fly quicker and to give it pace over the ground, as one does at Lawn Tennis.1905, Eustace Miles, “Tennis and its Popularisation”, in F. G. Aflalo, editor, The Sports of the World, London: Cassell and Company, page 227
Verb
overspin (third-person singular simple present overspins, present participle overspinning, simple past and past participle overspun)
- To spin too much or too far.
- In my enthusiasm I overspun the handle of the microfilm reading machine and went a few pages further than I intended.2002, Paul David Nelson, Fredrick L. McGhee: A Life on the Color Line, 1861-1912, page xx
Forms of overspin
| third-person singular present | overspins |
|---|---|
| present participle | overspinning |
| past participle | overspun |
| past | overspun |
Origin of overspin
From over- + spin.
Questions about overspin
- What does overspin mean?
- Overspin means an excessive amount of spin applied to a projectile such that its nose does not turn down at the summit of the trajectory.
- What part of speech is overspin?
- Overspin can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce overspin?
- Overspin is pronounced /ˈoʊvɚˌspɪn/ (US).
Words near overspin in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: overspin (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:
Cite this entry: “overspin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/overspin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.