Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
overdrive en · VERB · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈdɹaɪv/
Etymology
From Middle English overdriven, from Old English oferdrīfan, equivalent to over- + drive. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uurdrieuwe (“to overdo, overstate”), Dutch overdrijven (“to exaggerate”), German Low German overdrieven, överdrieven (“to overdo, exaggerate”), German übertreiben (“to overdo, exaggerate”), Norwegian overdrive (“to exaggerate”).
Meanings
-
(transitive) To drive too hard, or far, or beyond strength.
Forms
overdrive en · NOUN · etymology 2
Pronunciation
- /ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌdɹaɪv/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From over- + drive, originally referring to gear ratios over 1:1.
Meanings
-
(countable, dated, uncountable) A gear, on an automobile, higher than the traditional top gear, mainly to allow better fuel economy at highway speeds. In the 21st century, such gears are no longer viewed as "extra" and thus rarely called by this name.
Cruising in overdrive at legal highway speed keeps rpm right at 1800, depending on rear-axle ratio.
1981 October, Popular Mechanics, volume 156, number 4, page 201:Near-synonym: top gear
In the 1970s, many transmission designs were revised to add an overdrive gear.
-
(figuratively, uncountable) A state of heightened activity.
The campaign has been in overdrive since the recent announcement.
overdrive pacing
It is true, though it's got nothing to do with me, that the building boom that created the Bombay of my childhood went into overdrive in the years before my birth
2000, Salman Rushdie, The ground beneath her feet, page 78:So, Mr. Zuckerberg has kicked his company into overdrive with a strong message: It’s time to do more with less.
2022 July 26, Mike Isaac, “‘Operating With Increased Intensity’: Zuckerberg Leads Meta Into Next Phase”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
-
(countable, euphemistic, slang, uncountable) Freewheeling (driving a vehicle with the transmission in neutral) on downhill stretches to achieve higher fuel economy and/or speed than otherwise. In colloquial registers, ethnically bigoted variants have been common, such as Jewish overdrive (alluding to the stereotype of miserly Jews) or Mexican overdrive or Polish overdrive (alluding to stereotypes of foolishness and poverty).
Of course overdrive is forbidden for dump trucks in the quarry because it is unsafe, but unscrupulous workers were found to be using it because of a perverse incentive involving tonnage piece rates.
-
(countable, uncountable) A gear ratio higher than 1:1: one in which a single revolution of the driving element corresponds to more than one revolution of the driven element.
Forms
Antonyms
low gear
Coordinates
fifth gear · fourth gear
Deriveds
Mexican overdrive · Polish overdrive · Georgia overdrive · Jewish overdrive
Relateds
upshift · understeer · hyperdrive · oversteer
Synonyms
O.D. · OD · top gear · see at angel gear · full throttle · O/D · top gear
Translations (14)
fr surmultipliée (gear on an automobile) · es superdirecta (gear on an automobile) · pl nadbieg (gear on an automobile) · fi ylikierrokset (state of heightened activity) · el υπερτάχυνση (state of heightened activity) · el πέμπτη (gear on an automobile) · de Schnellgang (gear on an automobile) · it sovrautilizzo (gear on an automobile) · fr surmenage (state of heightened activity) · es sobremarcha (gear on an automobile) · fi ylivaihde (gear on an automobile) · de Overdrive (gear on an automobile) · fr surrégime (state of heightened activity) · pl przester (state of heightened activity)