overdrive

English

Pronunciation

• (verb) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈdɹaɪv/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌdɹaɪv/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle English overdriven, from Old English oferdrīfan, equivalent to over- +‎ drive. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uurdrieuwe (“to overdo, overstate”), Dutch overdrijven (“to exaggerate”), German Low German overdrieven, överdrieven (“to overdo, exaggerate”), German übertreiben (“to overdo, exaggerate”), Norwegian overdrive (“to exaggerate”).

Verb

overdrive (third-person singular simple present overdrives, present participle overdriving, simple past overdrove, past participle overdriven)

1. (transitive) To drive too hard, or far, or beyond strength.

Etymology 2

From over- +‎ drive From the gear over "D" (drive) in an automatic transmission vehicle.

Noun

overdrive (countable and uncountable, plural overdrives)

1. (dated, automotive) A gear, on an automobile, higher than the normal top gear.
   • 1981 October, Popular Mechanics, volume 156, number 4, page 201:

     Cruising in overdrive at legal highway speed keeps rpm right at 1800, depending on rear-axle ratio.

2. (uncountable, figurative) A state of heightened activity.
   • 2000, Salman Rushdie, The ground beneath her feet, page 78:

     It is true, though it's got nothing to do with me, that the building boom that created the Bombay of my childhood went into overdrive in the years before my birth

   • 2022 July 26, Mike Isaac, “‘Operating With Increased Intensity’: Zuckerberg Leads Meta Into Next Phase”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     So, Mr. Zuckerberg has kicked his company into overdrive with a strong message: It’s time to do more with less.

Synonyms

(abbreviation)

• OD
• O/D
• O.D. / O. D.

Coordinate terms

• 4th gear (in an automatic transmission vehicle)
• 5th gear (in a manual transmission vehicle)

Derived terms

• (abbreviation) O. D. / O.D. / O/D / OD

• Georgia overdrive
• Mexican overdrive

 

Translations

gear on an automobile

• Finnish: ylivaihde
• French: surmultipliée (fr) f
• German: Schnellgang f, Overdrive (de) m
• Greek: πέμπτη (el) (pémpti)
• Italian: sovrautilizzo m

state of heightened activity

• Finnish: ylikierrokset
• French: surrégime (fr) m, surmenage (fr)
• Greek: υπερτάχυνση f (ypertáchynsi)

See also

• hyperdrive
• understeer
• oversteer

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

over- +‎ drive; after German übertreiben

Verb

overdrive (imperative overdriv, present tense overdriver, simple past overdrev or overdreiv, past participle overdrevet, present participle overdrivende)

1. to exaggerate (overstate, to describe more than is fact)

Derived terms

• overdrivelse

Related terms

• overdreven

References

• “overdrive” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

overdrive

1. neuter of overdriven

Verb

overdrive (present tense overdriv, past tense overdreiv, supine overdrive, past participle overdriven, present participle overdrivande, imperative overdriv)

1. Alternative form of overdriva