• Verb:
  • (British) IPA: /əʊvəˈɹʌn/
  • (America) IPA: /oʊvəˈɹʌn/
• Noun:
  • (British) IPA: /ˈəʊvəˌɹʌn/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈoʊvəˌɹʌn/

overrun (overruns, present participle overrunning; past overran, past participle overrun)

1. To defeat an enemy and invade in great numbers, seizing the enemy positions conclusively.
2. To infest, swarm over, flow over.

   The vine overran its trellis; the field is overrun with weeds.

   • those barbarous nations that overran the world

3. To run past; to run beyond.

   The athlete overran the finish line and kept going.

   One line overruns another in length.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, 2 Samuel 18:23 ↗:

     Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.

4. To continue for too long.

   The performance overran by ten minutes, which caused some people to miss their bus home.

5. (printing) To carry (some type, a line or column, etc.) backward or forward into an adjacent line or page.
6. To go beyond; to extend in part beyond.

   In machinery, a sliding piece is said to overrun its bearing when its forward end goes beyond it.

7. To abuse or oppress, as if by treading upon.

   • None of them the feeble overran.

• Portuguese: infestar

overrun

1. An instance of overrunning
   • 2013 June 18, Simon Romero, "Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders ↗," New York Times (retrieved 21 June 2013):

     Some of the stadiums being built for the World Cup soccer tournament, scheduled for next year, have also been criticized for delays and cost overruns, and have become subjects of derision as protesters question whether they will become white elephants.

2. The amount by which something overruns

   At least this year's overrun isn't as unmanageable as last year!

3. Air that is whipped into a frozen dessert to make it easier to serve and eat.
   • 2004, Wayne Gisslen, Professional Baking (page 497)

     If ice cream has too much overrun, it will be airy and foamy and will lack flavor.