Word.ws English Dictionary

went overboard

went overboard is the simple past of go overboard.

Meaning of go overboard

Verb

go overboard (third-person singular simple present goes overboard, present participle going overboard, simple past went overboard, past participle gone overboard)

  1. To fall out of a vessel.
    • Attach the buoys so they don't go overboard.
  2. (idiomatic, intransitive) To go too far; to exceed reasonable bounds.
    • You can decorate the new room, but don't go overboard with surreal paintings.
    Synonyms:
    get carried away, gild the lily, overegg, over-egg the pudding, overdo, take (something) too far

Questions about went overboard

What is went overboard the simple past of?
Went overboard is the simple past of go overboard.

Words near went overboard in the dictionary

  1. went over as well as a lead balloon
  2. went over like a lead balloon
  3. went over like a lead zeppelin
  4. went over someone's head
  5. went over to the majority
  6. went overboard
  7. went past
  8. went pear shaped
  9. went pear-shaped
  10. went pearshaped
  11. went phut

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: went overboard (page history and authors); go overboard (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.

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