Dictionary

overcarry en · VERB

Etymology

From Middle English overcarien, equivalent to over- + carry.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To carry too far, or beyond the proper point.
   • Soe they resolved with losse of their lives to recover or to end the losse of theire libertie , being overcarried indifferently with hate and disdaine , two mightie passions to drive on disordered desires a. 1628 (date written), John Hayward, The Life, and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press, and J. Lichfield at Oxford?] for Iohn Partridge, […], published 1630, →OCLC:
   • In fact, the scales could be weighted still more heavily in favour of completing the sorting at Leicester, even if this demanded 20min allowance, since not doing the work there inevitably results in overcarrying of parcels; and that could mean delay in delivery and complaints from the customer. 1964 February, Warren Smith, “The Midland's accelerated timetable”, in Modern Railways, page 99:
2. (intransitive) To go to excess.

Forms