overload

verb over·load \ ˌō-vər-ˈlōd \

|Updated on: 4 Aug 2018

Definition of overload

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

See overload defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of overload from the Web

There were gardens of dying flowers and trash cans overloaded with uncollected garbage.

— eli saslow, Anchorage Daily News, "Raids are separating families in the heartland," 1 July 2018
There were gardens of dying flowers and trash cans overloaded with uncollected garbage.

— eli saslow, chicagotribune.com, "ICE raids are separating families in America's heartland," 1 July 2018
There were gardens of dying flowers and trash cans overloaded with uncollected garbage.

— eli saslow, Washington Post, "After raid, immigrant families are separated in the American heartland," 30 June 2018
The studies found that when parents overloaded their children with contradictory statements over too long a period of time, the children were driven insane.

— win mccormack, The New Republic, "Bhagwan’s Devious Trap," 12 Apr. 2018
It was created in response to a crisis and now allows veterans to tap into the private health-care system when VA capacity is overloaded, is too far away, or doesn’t offer certain specialty services.

— anthony tersigni, WSJ, "Congress’s Chance to Do Right by Veterans," 9 May 2018
But what if doing that barely makes a dent, and your office essentials are still overloading your desk?

— melanie yates, Woman's Day, "The Sleek, Functional Way to Get Organized," 15 May 2015
While official details about what caused the plane to crash have not yet been made available, experts have said the six-seat plane appears to have been overloaded with passengers and luggage.

— jason pohl, azcentral, "Scottsdale plane crash: Student pilot had cocaine in his system, report finds," 27 June 2018
The one percent difference suggests spironolactone is basically as effective at treating acne, without the risk of overloading on antibiotics.

— macaela mackenzie, Allure, "Is Spironolactone as Effective at Treating Acne as Antibiotics? New Study Says Yes," 7 June 2018

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

First Known Use of overload

1553

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

overload Synonyms

overload

noun over·load \ ˈō-vər-ˌlōd \

Definition of overload

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