overshoot

verb

over·​shoot ˌō-vər-ˈshüt 

overshot ˌō-vər-ˈshät  ; overshooting

transitive verb

1

: to pass swiftly beyond

2

: to shoot or pass over or beyond so as to miss

overshoot

ˈō-vər-ˌshüt 

noun

Synonyms

• break
• exceed
• outreach
• outrun
• overpass
• overreach
• overrun
• overstep
• surpass
• transcend

Examples of overshoot in a Sentence

The plane overshot the runway.

Sometimes we overshoot our time limits.

Recent Examples on the Web

Nick Viall may have overshot his budget on a push present for fiancée Natalie Joy. —Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 8 Mar. 2024

Researchers say the results also suggest global temperature could overshoot 2 degrees of warming by the end of the decade. —Rachel Ramirez, CNN, 5 Feb. 2024

The Navy is investigating what caused the P-8A, which is the military version of Boeing's 737 passenger jet, to overshoot a runway. —CBS News, 30 Nov. 2023

The second-place Cougars have overshot their preseason projection in the Pac-12 race (10th) by a whopping eight spots. —Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 6 Mar. 2024

While the fundamentals are certainly supporting an increase in Palantir’s share price, the AI hype may be overshooting the near-term potential for returns at this level. —Beth Kindig, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024

Abdul goes on to explain that the layoffs are a result of companies overshooting their budgets from the prior year. —Jasmine Browley, Essence, 4 Jan. 2024

The Navy released a $1.5 million plan to remove a surveillance plane that overshot a runway at a military base in Hawaii and splashed into Kaneohe Bay, which is home to coral reefs, a breeding ground for hammerhead sharks and a University of Hawaii marine biology research institute. —CBS News, 2 Dec. 2023

Unless nations get serious about increasing their ambitions, the world is on track to wildly overshoot the Paris goals, warming somewhere between 2.5 and 2.9 degrees Celsius, the report notes. —Matt Simon, WIRED, 20 Nov. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

overshoot

verb

over·​shoot ˌō-vər-ˈshüt 

overshot -ˈshät  ; overshooting

1

: to miss by going beyond

the plane overshot the runway

2

: to shoot over or beyond

overshot the target

Medical Definition

overshoot

noun

over·​shoot ˈō-vər-ˌshüt 

: a rapid change in electrical potential and reversal of polarity that occurs during an action potential when a cell or tissue is stimulated