as in catching
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
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Recent Examples of overtaking
Raman steadily chipped away at Pratt’s roughly 40,000-vote election night lead before overtaking him over the weekend.
—
Teresa Liu, Daily News, 10 June 2026
Disclosure Day is an urgent call to fight back against misinformation, a clear threatening cancer for the future of the human race, and a very real one overtaking our daily lives.
—Pete Hammond, Deadline, 9 June 2026
Billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer is in third place in the current ballot tally, and the odds of him overtaking Hilton appear increasingly unlikely.
—Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
Nithya Raman will advance to the November election in the Los Angeles mayoral race, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, after overtaking Spencer Pratt for second place as more votes were counted in the days after the June 2 primary.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 8 June 2026
The news comes after Raman surged ahead in election results over the weekend, overtaking political newcomer Spencer Pratt.
—Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 8 June 2026
Backrooms, directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, is officially A24's highest-grossing release ever after overtaking Timothée Chalamet's December release Marty Supreme.
—Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 8 June 2026
The shipyard just unveiled plans for its new 237-foot vessel, overtaking the brand’s previous record holder, Sparta, by 17 feet.
—Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 2 June 2026
Anthropic has surged on enterprise demand and its Claude Code franchise, overtaking OpenAI's valuation for the first time.
—Alicia Park, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
Teresa Liu, Daily News, 10 June 2026
Disclosure Day is an urgent call to fight back against misinformation, a clear threatening cancer for the future of the human race, and a very real one overtaking our daily lives.
—Pete Hammond, Deadline, 9 June 2026
Billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer is in third place in the current ballot tally, and the odds of him overtaking Hilton appear increasingly unlikely.
—Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
Nithya Raman will advance to the November election in the Los Angeles mayoral race, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, after overtaking Spencer Pratt for second place as more votes were counted in the days after the June 2 primary.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 8 June 2026
The news comes after Raman surged ahead in election results over the weekend, overtaking political newcomer Spencer Pratt.
—Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 8 June 2026
Backrooms, directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, is officially A24's highest-grossing release ever after overtaking Timothée Chalamet's December release Marty Supreme.
—Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 8 June 2026
The shipyard just unveiled plans for its new 237-foot vessel, overtaking the brand’s previous record holder, Sparta, by 17 feet.
—Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 2 June 2026
Anthropic has surged on enterprise demand and its Claude Code franchise, overtaking OpenAI's valuation for the first time.
—Alicia Park, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overtaking
Verb
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As many as 7 in 10 of those operators blamed tight visa rules, vetting of immigrants and a spike in the cost of catching a flight into the United States, brought on by the Iran war, as reasons for the lousy booking rates.—
Andre Mouchard,
Oc Register,
8 June 2026
-
The Baltimore native dropped a rap video that is catching the eye of more than a million people.—
CBS Baltimore Staff,
CBS News,
8 June 2026
Verb
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And she’s taken a spot in the stands alongside their parents, who have spent years chasing their youngest children around the country to make sure at least one parent attends each pro or college game.—
Idaho Statesman,
Idaho Statesman,
8 June 2026
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Now homeowners are chasing that same effect with HVAC scent diffusers — devices that hook into a home’s heating and cooling system to push fragrance through every room at once.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Charlotte Observer,
8 June 2026
Verb
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The system can reportedly target threats flying as low as 50 feet above the ground and at altitudes reaching approximately 17 miles.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
7 June 2026
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More importantly, the engines only need to be started shortly before reaching the active runway threshold.—
David Szondy
June 07,
New Atlas,
7 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Overtaking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overtaking. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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