as in catches
to move fast enough to get even with
she had to hurry to overtake her friends, who had forgotten their umbrellas the thunderstorm overtook them suddenly
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of overtakes
Paranoia overtakes several players who vie for protection.
—
Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 3 Mar. 2026
When exhaustion overtakes them, something more sinister comes creeping from the shadows.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 15 Feb. 2026
Afterward, Agnes and I were felled by the kind of hunger that overtakes only those who have exerted themselves in cold weather.
—Boris Fishman, Travel + Leisure, 8 Feb. 2026
The show overtakes confrontation, less as a strategy than as a compromise no one remembers agreeing to.
—Jerry Brewer, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Opposition occurs when Earth, moving faster in its orbit than Jupiter, overtakes the giant planet.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 7 Jan. 2026
Ancestors are memorialized but then assured that the rum still flows as drunkenness overtakes our narrator.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
But director Kurtis David Harder (Influencer) imbues the proceedings with a slow-boiling paranoid energy that slowly overtakes the film.
—Samantha Allen, Them., 7 Oct. 2025
Another task, another job, becomes unavoidable when an explosion of cats and kittens overtakes the property.
—Rebecca Van Laer
september 30, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2025
Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 3 Mar. 2026
When exhaustion overtakes them, something more sinister comes creeping from the shadows.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 15 Feb. 2026
Afterward, Agnes and I were felled by the kind of hunger that overtakes only those who have exerted themselves in cold weather.
—Boris Fishman, Travel + Leisure, 8 Feb. 2026
The show overtakes confrontation, less as a strategy than as a compromise no one remembers agreeing to.
—Jerry Brewer, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Opposition occurs when Earth, moving faster in its orbit than Jupiter, overtakes the giant planet.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 7 Jan. 2026
Ancestors are memorialized but then assured that the rum still flows as drunkenness overtakes our narrator.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
But director Kurtis David Harder (Influencer) imbues the proceedings with a slow-boiling paranoid energy that slowly overtakes the film.
—Samantha Allen, Them., 7 Oct. 2025
Another task, another job, becomes unavoidable when an explosion of cats and kittens overtakes the property.
—Rebecca Van Laer
september 30, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overtakes
Verb
-
As for the transfers, Rogers (33 catches for 441 yards in 2025) will assuredly be put to work as one of only two receivers on the team with more than three career starts.—
Manny Navarro,
New York Times,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Perez nearly has one of her own, but Vestal catches the flyball at the warning track.—
Caleb Yum,
Austin American Statesman,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In the film, when mobster Marsellus Wallace sees Bruce Willis’ boxer character Butch crossing the street — after Butch defied Wallace’s orders to throw a match — Wallace chases Butch into a pawnshop.—
Kory Grow,
Rolling Stone,
6 Mar. 2026
-
The human cost is painfully clear; our parents and grandparents cycle in and out of hospitals, receiving reactive medicine that chases one condition after another rather than addressing the underlying cause.—
Andrew S. Brack,
Time,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The likelihood of lightning increases as a thunderstorm gets closer and reaches its highest point when the storm is directly overhead.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Stevens is on the driver's side and reaches toward the door.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Overtakes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overtakes. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
