verb
overheat
oh-vuh-HEET
verb
1
To heat something, or for something, well past a safe or normal level.
"The laptop started to overheat after hours of gaming."
"Don't overheat the oil or it will start to smoke."
2
Of an economy, to expand faster than it can sustainably handle.
"Economists warned the housing market was starting to overheat."
How to Use Overheat
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo get, or make, too hot — literally (engines, rooms) or figuratively (an economy growing too fast).
Common pairings
the engine overheated
an overheating economy
Word Forms
overheated past tense, overheats plural, overheats singular
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Etymology
From Middle English overheten, formed from over- + heat; German has the near-identical überhitzen.