Standard Lemma guide

overfill

noun · verb · 3 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.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: OW1 V ER0 F IH2 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An instance of overfilling.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To fill beyond capacity or beyond what is appropriate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

fill beyond capacity

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • overfill the baskets

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fill, fill up, make full

History

Etymology

From Middle English *overfillen, oferfüllen, from Old English oferfyllan (“to cram, overfill”), equivalent to over- + fill. Cognate with Middle Low German overfullen, German überfüllen, Danish overfylde, Swedish överfylla.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: препълване (prepǎlvane) — instance of overfilling
  • Finnish: ylitäyttö — instance of overfilling
  • Slovak: preplnenie — instance of overfilling
  • Bulgarian: препълвам (prepǎlvam) — to fill beyond capacity
  • Bulgarian: препълня (prepǎlnja) — to fill beyond capacity
  • Finnish: ylitäyttää — to fill beyond capacity
  • Galician: ateigar — to fill beyond capacity
  • Galician: acugular — to fill beyond capacity
  • Ancient Greek: ὑπερπίμπλημι (huperpímplēmi) — to fill beyond capacity
  • Icelandic: yfirfylla — to fill beyond capacity
  • Latin: superpleō — to fill beyond capacity
  • Slovak: preplniť — to fill beyond capacity
  • Slovak: prepĺňať — to fill beyond capacity
  • Spanish: sobrellenar — to fill beyond capacity
  • Spanish: colmar — to fill beyond capacity
  • Vietnamese: đầy tràn — to fill beyond capacity