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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Doe is seeking damages exceeding $75,000, along with other punitive damages and other relief to be determined at trial.—
Lexi Nicklaus,
Baltimore Sun,
28 Apr. 2026
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Both teams had playoff probabilities exceeding 85% just a few weeks ago.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The Indiana recruit has set team records for homers in a season with 15, quickly surpassing the 10 hit by 2022 graduate Kiley Conner, and in a career with 28, eclipsing the 24 hit by 2017 graduate Alex Hickey.—
Michael Osipoff,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
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Charity is of particular importance to the London Marathon, even compared to other races, as this year’s edition broke yet another record, surpassing $118 million.—
Ian Servantes,
Footwear News,
1 May 2026
Verb
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Some states like California have been seeing prices as high as $6 per gallon over the past several days, while Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Alaska contend with average prices topping $5 per gallon.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
4 May 2026
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Bally’s Chicago hosted a topping-off ceremony yesterday marking the placement of the final beam, a milestone signifying the completion of the structural framework.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
Verb
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But Deborah’s bitterness is eclipsing everything.—
Jessica M. Goldstein,
Vulture,
1 May 2026
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The Indiana recruit has set team records for homers in a season with 15, quickly surpassing the 10 hit by 2022 graduate Kiley Conner, and in a career with 28, eclipsing the 24 hit by 2017 graduate Alex Hickey.—
Michael Osipoff,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Overtopping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overtopping. Accessed 9 May. 2026.
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