overheat

verb

over·heat | \ ˌō-vər-ˈhēt

overheated; overheating; overheats

Definition of overheat

transitive verb

1 : to heat to excess

2 : to stimulate or agitate unduly

intransitive verb

: to become heated beyond a safe or desirable point

Examples of overheat in a Sentence

I overheated the food in the microwave. Be careful not to overheat the engine.

Recent Examples on the Web

Combined with warm surrounding temperatures, this can lead to overheating. — Billy Perrigo, Time, "6 Easy Ways to Keep Your Phone Safe in the Summer Heat," 22 June 2018 The company’s decline was exacerbated by a 2016 global recall of Galaxy Note 7 devices with overheating batteries that tarnished its brand. — Timothy W. Martin, WSJ, "Apple Beware: Samsung’s Great Fall in China Was Swift," 4 Jan. 2019 Coinmining can slow down devices, overheat batteries, and in some cases, render devices unusable. — Bloomberg.com, "Sweden Is Becoming a Haven for Cryptojackers," 23 Mar. 2018 In mid-December, officials were counting on growth slowing to around 2.3% this year from 3% last year to prevent that overheating. — Eric Morath, WSJ, "Fed Faces a Fresh Test: Engineering a Soft Economic Landing," 6 Jan. 2019 Basically, if you're overheated, a cool shower will help your body get back to baseline. — Alexa Tucker, SELF, "10 Things to Do Before and After a Workout to Get Better Results," 3 Jan. 2019 The Fed has a tough balance to strike — raise interest rates enough to keep the economy from overheating, but avoid overdoing it so as to surprise markets or cause a recession. — Emily Stewart, Vox, "Trump’s beef with the Fed, explained," 29 Nov. 2018 Some of the recount trouble centers on the Democratic stronghold of Palm Beach County, where tallying machines have overheated. — Kelli Kennedy, The Seattle Times, "Overheating machines complicate Florida’s recount battle," 14 Nov. 2018 This sort of sudden exercise lends itself to injury and overheating. — Shelby Deering, Country Living, "Ask a Country Vet: How Can I Keep My Sporting Dog Healthy and Happy?," 11 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'overheat.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.