overstep
UK/ˌəʊvəˈstɛp//ˌoʊvɚˈstɛp/
overstep verb: to go too far beyond (a limit); especially, to cross boundaries or exceed norms or conventions.
Verb
overstep (third-person singular simple present oversteps, present participle overstepping, simple past and past participle overstepped)
- To go too far beyond (a limit); especially, to cross boundaries or exceed norms or conventions.
- That color scheme really oversteps the bounds of good taste.
- As a result, there was a gain of 3½ min. from Goraghwood to Dundalk, which we reached 2 min. early. Nevertheless, the customs officials succeeded in overstepping their 13-min. time allowance, and we left 1 min. late.1960 February, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 112
- Synonyms:
- transgress, outstep
- To take a step in which the foot touches ground too far forward.
- As an instance of this inability to control the muscles well, may be cited the almost constant tendency to understep or overstep especially with the fore legs.1907, University of Nebraska (Lincoln campus). Agricultural Experiment Station, Annual Report - Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station
- If a sense of feeling gave him some knowledge of the width of the steps the fact that the third step was ⅝ of an inch wider could not cause him to overstep, but if it had any effect it would tend to cause him to understep.1945, North eastern reporter. second series - Volume 60, page 499
- To move with a gait such that the hind foot touches the ground forward of the point where the front foot touches the ground.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:overstep.
Noun
overstep (uncountable)
- A gait in which the hind foot touches ground in front of where the front foot touches the ground.
- A few animals, such as bison, commonly use an understep walk, while several species, including black bears, cougars and pronghorn regularly use an overstep walk.2012, Jonathan Poppele, Animal Tracks: Midwest Edition, →ISBN, page 27
- Therefore, an understep (where the hind track lies behind the front track) is probably a slower gait than a direct-registering walk where the hind lies on top of the front, and both are probably slower than an overstep walk, where the hind track registers beyond the front track.2012, Lawrence Mark Elbroch, Michael Kresky, Jonah Evans, Field Guide to Animal Tracks and Scat of California, →ISBN, page 49
- A movement in which one oversteps.
- A decision or action that goes too far.
- […] an overstep of their legal bounds as an organization of any kind, and a violation of your civil rights.2017, Katessa Harkey, The Peace of the Hall, page 45
overstep meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
overstep in Hindi
- To go too far beyond (a limit); especially, to cross boundaries or exceed norms or conventions.
- लाँघना lāṅghnā
overstep in Tamil
- இறத்தல், எஞ்சு
overstep in Urdu
- تجاوز کرنا
overstep in Bengali
- নির্দিষ্ট সীমা, শিষ্টাচার লঙ্ঘন করা
More languagesFewer languages
- overstep in Malayalam
- അതിക്രമിക്കുക, അതിലംഘിക്കുക, അതിരു കടക്കുക
- overstep in Kannada
- ಉಲ್ಲಂಘಿಸು, ಅತಿಕ್ರಮಿಸು, ಎಲ್ಲೆಮೀರಿ ನಡೆ, ಹದ್ದುಮೀರು
- overstep in Arabic
- تَخَطَّى taḵaṭṭā
Examples of overstep in a sentence
- The President's arrogation of this new Act oversteps his bounds and causes our rights to suffer.
- He almost no balled the full over due to his repetitive overstepping.
- These same readers act against her when she oversteps the boundaries of prescribed female domains.
Synonyms of overstep
Forms of overstep
| third-person singular present | oversteps |
|---|---|
| present participle | overstepping |
| past participle | overstepped |
| past | overstepped |
Origin of overstep
From Middle English *oversteppen, from Old English ofersteppan, from Proto-Germanic *uberstapjaną (“to step over; overstep”). Cognate with Dutch overstappen, German Low German överstappen, German überstapfen, überstepfen. Cf. transgress. By surface analysis, over- + step.
Words formed from overstep
Words that rhyme with overstep
Questions about overstep
- What does overstep mean?
- Overstep means to go too far beyond (a limit); especially, to cross boundaries or exceed norms or conventions.
- What is overstep in Hindi?
- Overstep in Hindi is लाँघना (lāṅghnā). See Overstep meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is overstep?
- Overstep can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce overstep?
- Overstep is pronounced /ˌəʊvəˈstɛp/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of overstep?
- The past tense of overstep is overstepped.
Words near overstep in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: overstep (page history and authors); overstep (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); overstep (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); overstep (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); overstep (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); overstep (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: en-us-overstep.ogg.
Cite this entry: “overstep.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/overstep. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.