overwrite
verb
over·write
| \ ˌō-vər-ˈrīt
, ˌō-və-\
, ˌō-və-\
overwrote\ ˌō-vər-ˈrōt
, ˌō-və- \;
overwritten\ ˌō-vər-ˈri-tᵊn
, ˌō-və- \;
overwriting\ ˌō-vər-ˈrī-tiŋ
, ˌō-və- \
, ˌō-və- \;
overwritten\ ˌō-vər-ˈri-tᵊn
, ˌō-və- \;
overwriting\ ˌō-vər-ˈrī-tiŋ
, ˌō-və- \
Definition of overwrite
: to write too much or in an overly elaborate style
Examples of overwrite in a Sentence
The author has a tendency to overwrite.
Recent Examples on the Web
The proof of concept overwrites a file used by Windows' printing subsystem—Windows will then run the attacker's code when an attempt is made to print. — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, "Microsoft obliquely acknowledges Windows 0-day bug published on Twitter," 29 Aug. 2018 In this, Liberty Island epitomizes the telling of all history—each generation overwrites the past. — Rich Cohen, WSJ, "The Hidden History of Liberty Island," 11 July 2019 This includes storing your clips for 60 days (older clips are overwritten by newer ones). — Dallas News, "The Ring Stick Up Cam Battery works with no wires at all," 27 June 2019 There are a number of tools available, some for free, but most merely overwrite the data three times (what the Department of Defense has traditionally recommended) or even more, just to be sure. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Don't erase, overwrite: How to avoid being that person who resells a drive with data on it," 25 Apr. 2019 If Graves supposes the matriarchal came first, and was later overwritten by the patriarchal, Killing Eve does this in reverse. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "Killing Eve's Fiona Shaw Knows Which Side Carolyn Martens Is On. She Knows a Lot, Actually.," 5 May 2019 The new bug will be harder to exploit in that way, as the ability to delete files is less useful than the ability to overwrite files. — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, "Another Windows 0-day flaw has been published on Twitter," 24 Oct. 2018 But Microsoft also advised customers to use the affected devices as little as possible, to avoid overwriting the lost data and losing it forever. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Microsoft restarts Windows 10 October 2018 Update, blaming data loss on misdirected folders," 9 Oct. 2018 By overwriting a file that's subsequently loaded into a privileged SYSTEM-level process, the attacker can run code of their choosing with SYSTEM privileges. — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, "Microsoft obliquely acknowledges Windows 0-day bug published on Twitter," 29 Aug. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'overwrite.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for overwrite
overwrite
verb
English Language Learners Definition of overwrite
: to replace information in (a computer file) with new information
: to write in a way that is too detailed or complicated
See the full definition for overwrite in the English Language Learners Dictionary