overpopulation

noun

over·pop·u·la·tion | \ ˌō-vər-ˌpä-pyə-ˈlā-shən

Definition of overpopulation

: the condition of having a population so dense as to cause environmental deterioration, an impaired quality of life, or a population crash

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Examples of overpopulation in a Sentence

He is studying the problem of deer overpopulation.

Recent Examples on the Web

Both women, who have adopted dogs through Special Pals, said that animal overpopulation is a severe problem. — Karen Zurawski, Houston Chronicle, "Special Pals marks 40 years," 21 Aug. 2019 And overpopulation can contribute to such social and environmental problems as global warming, resource depletion, pollution, overcrowding, malnutrition, gender inequality and the spread of deadly disease. — Erin Davis And Brandon Griggs, CNN, "The world's population is nearing 8 billion. That's not great news," 11 July 2019 But overpopulation kicked in and the old bodies had to be dug up to make room for fresh corpses. — Caitlin Morton, Condé Nast Traveler, "Creepy Catacombs, Islands of Dolls, and 18 Other Terrifying Places for Thrill Seekers," 4 Sep. 2019 Bangladesh, struggling with overpopulation and poverty, wants to reassure its citizens that scarce funds are not being diverted to refugees. — New York Times, "Massacred at Home, in Misery Abroad, 730,000 Rohingya Are Mired in Hopelessness," 22 Aug. 2019 McCollum blames a lack of education for the overpopulation problem. — Karen Zurawski, Houston Chronicle, "Special Pals marks 40 years," 21 Aug. 2019 Additionally, because of overpopulation, alewives, a type of prey fish, were washing up dead on Great Lakes shorelines by the ton, making Michigan beaches places to be avoided at all costs. — Michigan Wildlife Council, Detroit Free Press, "The story of Michigan salmon: Restoring balance to the Great Lakes," 9 Aug. 2019 While southern shelters face incredible overpopulation, here in Minnesota the capacity for companion-animal adoption exceeds the population of homeless and surrendered. — Janelle Dixon, Twin Cities, "Janelle Dixon: Transporting homeless animals from overcrowded southern shelters saves lives," 31 July 2019 That sounds like the route to an overpopulation apocalypse, right? — Kelsey Piper, Vox, "We’ve worried about overpopulation for centuries. And we’ve always been wrong.," 20 Aug. 2019

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