overtake

Plural: overtakes

Verb

Verb Forms: overtook, overtaken, overtaking, overtakes

To catch up with and pass; to surprise suddenly.
catch up with and possibly overtake
travel past
overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli
To pass a slower moving object or entity (on the side closest to oncoming traffic).
To become greater than something else in quantity, worth, etc.
To take by surprise; surprise and overcome; carry away.

Noun

An act of overtaking; an overtaking maneuver.

Examples

Grocery sales in the north have overtaken those in the south.
Our plans were overtaken by events.
The car was so slow we were overtaken by a bus.
The racehorse overtook the lead pack on the last turn.
There wasn't enough distance left before the bend for an overtake, so I had to trundle behind the tractor for another mile.
With a triple-word score, she managed to overtake her opponent’s lead.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English overtaken, likely a replacement alteration (as the Middle English verb taken replaced nimen (“to take”)), of Middle English overnimen (“to overtake”), from Old English oferniman (“to take by surprise, overtake”), equivalent to over- + take.

Synonyms

catch, catch up with, overcome, overhaul, overpower, overwhelm, pass, sweep over, whelm

Antonyms

undertake[curbside]]>

Scrabble Score: 15

overtake: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
overtake: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
overtake: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 16

overtake: valid Words With Friends Word