overload
verb
over·load
| \ ˌō-vər-ˈlōd
\
\
overloaded;
overloading;
overloads
Definition of overload
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to load (something or someone) to excess: such as
a
: to put too large a load on or in (something)
overload a ship overload a washing machine Overloading the trailer poses a safety risk. … a bad winter can so overload roofs with snow that their collapses become endemic.— Henry Petroski
b
: to give too much of something to (someone or something) : to supply with an excess of something
overloading students with more information than they can retain More than ever, the upper middle class is synonymous with the stressed-out class. Their bosses are overloading them with work …— Joseph Spiers … have overloaded the market with too many strange designs and weird color combinations.— Mimi Valdés a movie overloaded with special effects a court system overloaded with criminal cases
c
: to cause too large a load in (something, such as an electrical circuit)
Too much current traveling through one circuit can cause an overload. The wires inside a wall can get too hot and start a fire. Using a special safety power strip can help prevent overloading a circuit. — Science
overload
noun
over·load
| \ ˈō-vər-ˌlōd
\
\
plural overloads
Definition of overload (Entry 2 of 2)
: an excessive load or amount of something
an overload of cargo an overload of details If your dog is suffering from an overload of stress, he will appear depressed, inactive, sluggish and unresponsive.— Daniel Seligman You fight your superficiality, your shallowness, so as to try to come at people without unreal expectations, without an overload of bias or hope or arrogance …— Philip Roth If you're a regular reader of blogs, … you've probably been frustrated from time to time by information overload: the blogosphere creates way too much material for any human being to comfortably digest.— Chris Taylor Large department stores tend to bring on sensory overload [=overstimulation of the senses] …— Stephen O'Shea and Joan Harting
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Examples of overload in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Without a service like Cloudflare, 8chan is vulnerable to a DDoS attack, in which hackers try to overload the site with artificial traffic. — Alyssa Newcomb, Fortune, "Why Hate Site 8chan Is So Hard to Knock Offline," 5 Aug. 2019 No more dog-earing bridal magazines or overloading a scrapbook with cutouts. — Riley & Grey, Harper's BAZAAR, "When It Comes to Wedding Planning, Is Instagram the New Pinterest?," 30 July 2019 The computer processor on the Apollo 11's lunar module nearly overloaded as the craft neared the moon, which could've forced Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to abort, Google says. — Scottie Andrew And Katherine Dillinger, CNN, "Her software put men on the moon. Fifty years later, Margaret Hamilton got a glowing moonlit tribute," 19 July 2019 Somewhere in the middle, a mysterious program was stealing the remaining 10 percent, plus a little more, overloading the processing queue and forcing the restarts. — Stephen Witt, WIRED, "Apollo 11: Mission Out of Control," 24 June 2019 Not by overloading on glucose or ketones [the energy source produced when the liver burns fat], but by altering the cadence of eating and letting the body do what it was designed to do during times of food scarcity. — Rahul Jandial, Md, Health.com, "The Popular Diet One Neurosurgeon Swears By as a Way to Boost His Brainpower," 5 June 2019 The work is — like your Instagram and Facebook feeds — overloaded with images, text, patterns, people, politics, religion, philosophy and personal narrative. — Ray Mark Rinaldi, The Know, "At Leon Gallery, the allure and danger of our Instagram lives," 4 Aug. 2019 Pair it with simple, neutral shoes to avoid overloading your look. — Lauren Hubbard, Town & Country, "8 Pretty Ways to Wear Red, White, and Blue This Fourth of July," 21 June 2019 So the state will have to find another outlet to avoid overloading the grid. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "100% Certifiable California," 9 Sep. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
District officials, however, cautioned that too many fans in one building could strain the aging systems and cause an electrical overload. — Baltimore Sun Staff, baltimoresun.com, "About 50 Baltimore schools without air-conditioning dismiss early due to heat on second day of class," 4 Sep. 2019 Despite the overload of talent and experience, Oregon’s offense has questions to answer. — oregonlive.com, "Pac-12 is off to a 0-1 start and thank goodness we avoided breakfast starts: Issues & Answers," 25 Aug. 2019 Turn off or unplug all appliances to prevent an electrical overload when power is restored. — Amy Huschka, Detroit Free Press, "DTE Energy: 80K customers remain without power," 23 July 2019 Get ready for extreme cuteness overload that will hopefully get you through hump day. — Sara Radin, Teen Vogue, "All The Times Blue Ivy and Mom Beyoncé Dressed Alike," 17 July 2019 While some other royals—ahem, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands—went for sensory overload on the first day of Royal Ascot, Princess Anne carved out her own, more practical sartorial path. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "Princess Anne Rewears a Look from 2007 for the First Day of Royal Ascot," 18 June 2019 Plus, get an exclusive peek inside Brynn’s tour bus, and meet the newest addition to the crew out on the road with her—get ready for cuteness overload! — Erika Trombley, Seventeen, "Winner of "The Voice" Brynn Cartelli Dishes On What It's Like to Be On Tour with Kelly Clarkson," 25 Mar. 2019 Email overload has become a backwards point of pride. — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, "Work Ruined Email," 2 Aug. 2019 As a photographer, the visual overload is incredible – the colors, the ruffles, the sheer size of the costume. — al.com, "Reckon Women Q&A: Adair Rutledge," 12 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'overload.' 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 overload
overload
verb
English Language Learners Definition of overload
: to put too great a load on or in (something)
: to give too much work to (someone)
: to cause (something, such as an electrical circuit) to be used for too many things at the same time
See the full definition for overload in the English Language Learners Dictionary
overload
verb
over·load
| \ ˌō-vər-ˈlōd\
overloaded;
overloading
Kids Definition of overload
: to put too great a load on or in
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