overload

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verb

over·​load ˌō-vər-ˈlōd 

overloaded; overloading; overloads

transitive verb

: to load (something or someone) to excess: such as

a

: to put too large a load on or in (something)

overload a ship

overload a washing machine

Overloading the trailer poses a safety risk.

… a bad winter can so overload roofs with snow that their collapses become endemic.

—Henry Petroski

b

: to give too much of something to (someone or something) : to supply with an excess of something

overloading students with more information than they can retain

More than ever, the upper middle class is synonymous with the stressed-out class. Their bosses are overloading them with work …

—Joseph Spiers

… have overloaded the market with too many strange designs and weird color combinations.

—Mimi Valdés

a movie overloaded with special effects

a court system overloaded with criminal cases

c

: to cause too large a load in (something, such as an electrical circuit)

Too much current traveling through one circuit can cause an overload. The wires inside a wall can get too hot and start a fire. Using a special safety power strip can help prevent overloading a circuit.

—Science

overload

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noun

over·​load ˈō-vər-ˌlōd 

plural overloads

: an excessive load or amount of something

an overload of cargo

an overload of details

If your dog is suffering from an overload of stress, he will appear depressed, inactive, sluggish and unresponsive.

—Daniel Seligman

You fight your superficiality, your shallowness, so as to try to come at people without unreal expectations, without an overload of bias or hope or arrogance …

—Philip Roth

If you're a regular reader of blogs, … you've probably been frustrated from time to time by information overload: the blogosphere creates way too much material for any human being to comfortably digest.

—Chris Taylor

Large department stores tend to bring on sensory overload [=overstimulation of the senses] …

—Stephen O'Shea and Joan Harting

Synonyms of overload

Verb

• load
• overburden
• stuff

Examples of overload in a Sentence

Verb

try not to overload your backpack, or you could end up with back problems

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

If the busyness of nearby midtown has your senses overloaded, stroll uptown instead to enjoy the charming, slower-moving streets of the UWS. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026

More often, their organizations are overloaded with information, but starving for clarity. —Esther K. Choy, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026

Noun

Medical practitioners also see reduced cognitive overload since the tools and process makes many parts of everyone’s jobs easier. —Dr. Jonathan Reichental, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026

The grid facing power shortages must know which sources will send extra power, which lines can carry it and what to do if the transfer creates overloads elsewhere. —Sufan Jiang, Fortune, 30 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1553, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1645, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing overload

• information overload
• sensory overload

Rhymes for overload

• afterload
• episode
• internode
• microcode
• multimode
• nematode
• nesselrode
• overflowed
• overrode
• radioed
• torpedoed
• trematode