Standard Lemma guide

overdose

noun · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌdəʊs/
  • Ireland: /ˈəʊvɚˌdəʊs/
  • /ˈʌo̞vɚˌdʌo̞s/ Dublin
  • /ˈʌo̞vɐˌdʌo̞s/ Dublin
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈdəʊs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: OW1 V ER0 D OW2 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An excessive and dangerous dose of a drug.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • to die of a heroin overdose

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To dose to excess; to give an overdose, or too many doses, to someone.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To dose excessively, to take an overdose.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

Examples

  • Be careful not to overdose on those pills.
  • She overdosed on cocaine.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To indulge in something excessively.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

dose too heavily

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The rock star overdosed and was found dead in his hotel room

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: o.d.

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: drug, dose

History

Etymology

From over- + dose.

Across languages

Translations

50 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: جُرْعَة زَائِدَة — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Basque: gaindosi — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Belarusian: перадазіро́ўка (pjeradazirówka) — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Bulgarian: свръхдо́за (svrǎhdóza) — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Catalan: sobredosi — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Chinese Mandarin: 藥劑過量 /药剂过量 (yàojì guòliàng) — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Chinese Mandarin: 用藥過量 /用药过量 (yòngyào guòliàng) — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Chinese Mandarin: 吸毒過量 /吸毒过量 (xīdú guòliàng) — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Dutch: overdosis — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Finnish: yliannos — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Finnish: överit — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • French: surdose — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • French: surdosage — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • French: overdose — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • German: Überdosis — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Hebrew: מנת יתר (manat yéter) — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Hungarian: túladagolás — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Italian: overdose — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Japanese: オーバードース (ōbādōsu) — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Japanese: 過剰摂取 (kajō sesshu) — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Korean: 과다복용 (gwadabogyong) — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Norwegian Bokmål: overdose — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: overdose — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Polish: przedawkowanie — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Portuguese: overdose — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Portuguese: superdose — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Romanian: supradoză — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Russian: передозиро́вка (peredoziróvka) — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Spanish: sobredosis — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Swedish: överdos — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Turkish: aşırı doz — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Ukrainian: передозува́ння (peredozuvánnja) — excessive and dangerous dose of a drug
  • Bulgarian: предозирам (predoziram) — to dose excessively
  • Chinese Mandarin: 藥劑過量 /药剂过量 (yàojì guòliàng) — to dose excessively
  • Chinese Mandarin: 用藥過量 /用药过量 (yòngyào guòliàng) — to dose excessively
  • Chinese Mandarin: 吸毒過量 /吸毒过量 (xīdú guòliàng) — to dose excessively
  • Czech: předávkovat — to dose excessively
  • Esperanto: trodozi — to dose excessively
  • Finnish: ottaa liikaa — to dose excessively
  • French: surdoser — to dose excessively
  • German: überdosieren — to dose excessively
  • Hungarian: túladagol — to dose excessively
  • Norwegian Bokmål: overdosere — to dose excessively
  • Polish: przedawkować — to dose excessively
  • Polish: przedawkowywać — to dose excessively
  • Russian: передози́ровать (peredozírovatʹ) — to dose excessively
  • Spanish: sobredosificar — to dose excessively
  • Swedish: överdosera — to dose excessively
  • Ukrainian: передозо́вувати (peredozóvuvaty) — to dose excessively
  • Ukrainian: передозува́ти (peredozuváty) — to dose excessively