as in exceeding
to be greater, better, or stronger than
a manager whose arrogance was overtopped only by his ineptitude
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Recent Examples of overtopping
Additional steps to prevent the water from overtopping the dam.
—
Paula Wethington, CBS News, 20 Apr. 2026
The 75-year-old levee had multiple failures in recent days, from seepage and water overtopping it to a partial collapse at one home, county officials said.
—Steven Rosenfeld, Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2026
The most common reason levees fail is overtopping, when water from a river, stream or lake behind the levee flows over the top.
—Farshid Vahedifard, The Conversation, 29 Dec. 2025
That fateful day, the dam collapsed, releasing a torrent of floodwater that swallowed thousands of homes in the area, ripping some off their foundations while leaving others severely damaged, and overtopping the Sanford Dam.
—Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Aug. 2025
Paula Wethington, CBS News, 20 Apr. 2026
The 75-year-old levee had multiple failures in recent days, from seepage and water overtopping it to a partial collapse at one home, county officials said.
—Steven Rosenfeld, Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2026
The most common reason levees fail is overtopping, when water from a river, stream or lake behind the levee flows over the top.
—Farshid Vahedifard, The Conversation, 29 Dec. 2025
That fateful day, the dam collapsed, releasing a torrent of floodwater that swallowed thousands of homes in the area, ripping some off their foundations while leaving others severely damaged, and overtopping the Sanford Dam.
—Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overtopping
Verb
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The drone boat has supposedly survived a range of sea states that included waves exceeding five feet in height.—
Jeremy Hsu,
ArsTechnica,
9 June 2026
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Kansas City has gotten off to one of its wettest starts on record, with April and May driving the total and far exceeding normal precipitation for those two months.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
9 June 2026
Verb
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Brunson’s 45 points were also the most ever by a Knicks player in an NBA Finals game, surpassing Willis Reed’s 38 against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1970.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
14 June 2026
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The offering leapfrogs SpaceX to become the largest global IPO, surpassing the current record holder, Saudi Aramco.—
Mary Cunningham,
CBS News,
12 June 2026
Verb
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Before topping $4 a gallon on March 31, the national average gas price had stayed below $4 for nearly four years.—
Max Zahn,
ABC News,
13 June 2026
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Two showed employment letters on Caddell stationery signed by a company representative promising annual salaries topping nearly $29,000.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
13 June 2026
Verb
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With an average unit cost hovering around $800,000 for the first three broadcasts of this year’s Finals, Disney is already close to eclipsing last season’s seven-game ad haul, which EDO AdEngage estimates pegged at $288 million.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
11 June 2026
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Key Facts The move arrives just days after the company closed a $65 billion round that valued it at $965 billion—eclipsing rival OpenAI and cementing its status as the most valuable startup in artificial intelligence.—
Alicia Park,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Overtopping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overtopping. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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