Word.ws English Dictionary

overspread

UK/əʊvəˈspɹɛd/

overspread verb: to spread over or across (something); cover over; be scattered over; permeate, overrun.

Verb

overspread (third-person singular simple present overspreads, present participle overspreading, simple past and past participle overspread)

  1. (transitive) To spread over or across (something); cover over; be scattered over; permeate, overrun.
    • those nations of the North which overspread the world1612, Michael Drayton, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned...
    • Lady Bellaston fixed her eyes on Sophia whilst she spoke these words. To which that poor young lady, having her face overspread with blushes and confusion, answered, in a stammering voice […]1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    bespread
  2. (intransitive) To be spread or scattered about.

overspread meaning in Tamil, Kannada and Odia

overspread in Tamil

to overspread
கட்டு kaṭṭu

overspread in Kannada

ಅಳುರು, ಕವಿ, ಕಪ್ಪು

overspread in Odia

to overspread
ଢାଙ୍କିବା ḍhāṅkibā

Synonyms of overspread

Forms of overspread

third-person singular presentoverspreads
present participleoverspreading
past participleoverspread
pastoverspread
alternative contraction literaryo'erspread

Past tense of overspread: overspread

Origin of overspread

From Middle English overspreden, from Old English ofersprǣdan; equivalent to over- + spread. Cognate with Dutch overspreiden (“to overspread”), German überspreiten (“to overspread”).

Questions about overspread

What does overspread mean?
Overspread means to spread over or across (something); cover over; be scattered over; permeate, overrun.
What is overspread in Tamil?
Overspread in Tamil is கட்டு (kaṭṭu). See Overspread meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is overspread?
Overspread is a verb.
How do you pronounce overspread?
Overspread is pronounced /əʊvəˈspɹɛd/ (UK).
What is the past tense of overspread?
The past tense of overspread is overspread.

Words near overspread in the dictionary

  1. overspoken
  2. oversprang
  3. overspray
  4. overspray surface texture
  5. oversprays
  6. overspread
  7. overspreadest
  8. overspreadeth
  9. overspreading
  10. overspreadings
  11. overspreads

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: overspread (page history and authors); கட்டு (Tamil) (page history and authors); overspread (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ଢାଙ୍କିବା (Odia) (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-overspread.wav.

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