overspill

over·spill | \ ˈō-vər-ˌspil

How to pronounce overspill (audio)

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Definition of overspill

1 : the act or an instance of spilling over

2 chiefly British : the movement of excess urban population into less crowded areas

Examples of overspill in a Sentence

an overspill into nearby towns a new town built to absorb London's overspill

Recent Examples on the Web Enterprise customers – big firms that use external office space for staffing overspill – might also chose to bring more of their employees back in-house, notes the Fitch ratings agency. — Chris Bryant | Bloomberg, Washington Post, "WeWork Stands Before Us in All Its Naked Glory," 15 Aug. 2019 Arewa, a local term for the northern part of Nigeria, could not evade the global overspill of the #MeToo movement that had taken off from the United States. — Fakhrriyyah Hashim, Quartz Africa, "How Nigeria’s conservative northern region came to terms with its MeToo movement," 22 July 2019 Most pointed out that journalism shouldn't be an overspill for long-standing political rivalry. — Isobel Thompson, The Hive, "Britain’s Massive Divorce Bill Just Got Bigger," 3 May 2017

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

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Cite this Entry

“Overspill.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overspill. Accessed 13 December 2019.

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