Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Overrun for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Welcome. Today's word is 'overrun' — a verb and noun.
Narrator: Verb: oh-ver-RUN. Noun: OH-ver-run. IPA /ˌəʊ.vəˈrʌn/ and /ˈəʊ.və.rʌn/.
Narrator: To overrun means to spread beyond intended limits — to exceed a boundary of time, space, or cost.
Narrator: From over-, meaning beyond a limit, and run — from Old English rinnan. To run beyond the boundary.
Narrator: Militarily, to overrun an enemy position meant to sweep over it with superior numbers.
Narrator: Today: a project overruns its budget, a speaker overruns their time, a city overrun with traffic.
Narrator: Always implies something spreading uncontrollably beyond where it should be.
Narrator: Register is neutral to formal — project management, finance, military, and ecology.
Narrator: An overrun is the moment when plans meet reality — and reality wins.
Speaker A: Kitchen renovation overran by six weeks and thirty percent over budget. Classic.
Speaker B: Overruns are almost expected in construction. The word captures frustration perfectly — something that should have stopped, kept going.
Speaker A: Sprint overruns in software?
Speaker B: When the team doesn't complete planned stories in the two-week cycle. Pattern of overruns indicates planning problems, not just bad luck.
Speaker A: Overrun versus exceed?
Speaker B: Exceed is neutral — profit exceeded expectations. Overrun is negative — something contained has gone beyond its limit. Exceed when better than planned; overrun when out of control.
Speaker A: Mistakes?
Speaker B: Say overran its schedule or ran over its deadline — not overran its deadline. Overrun pairs naturally with budget, time, cost, and schedule.
Speaker B: Overrun in AI prompts — project tracking, budget management, detecting when something exceeds planned limits. Five prompts.
Speaker A: Overrun in a prompt means: track the boundary, detect when it is breached, and surface it before it becomes a crisis.
Overrun — meaning in Arabic & definition More O courses GL Dictionary