Definition of overwork
transitive verb
1 : to cause to work too hard, too long, or to exhaustion overworked the horses
2a : to work too much on overwork bread doughb : to make excessive use of overworked tunes
intransitive verb
: to work too much or too long : overdo
overwork
nounExplore M-W
Examples of overwork in a Sentence
The whole crew seemed exhausted, probably from overworking.
The captain routinely overworked the crew.
He overworks the melody in the song.
If you overwork the dough, the bread will be tough.
Recent Examples of overwork from the Web
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The band's statement said O'Neill overworked himself, spending weeks alone in the studio, jumping around amid bursts of flame on stage and flying around the U.S. with no sleep, all aggravating his chronic spine problems.
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Unfortunately for people, loud noises can overwork and destroy the cells.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'overwork'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
1530
First Known Use of overwork
1530
OVERWORK Defined for English Language Learners
overwork
playDefinition of overwork for English Language Learners
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: to work too hard
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: to use (something) too much or too often
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: to work on (something) too much
OVERWORK Defined for Kids
Definition of overwork for Students
overworked
;overworking
1 : to work or cause to work too much or too hard The captain overworked the crew.
2 : to use too much or too often overworked phrases
Definition of overwork for Students
: too much work They were exhausted from overwork.
Medical Dictionary
overwork
playMedical Definition of overwork
: to cause to work too hard, too long, or to exhaustion
intransitive verb
: to work too much or too long
overwork
nounLearn More about overwork
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See words that rhyme with overwork Spanish Central: Translation of overwork Nglish: Translation of overwork for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of overwork for Arabic speakers
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