| 释义 |
▪ I. overreach, n.|ˈəʊvəriːtʃ|
[f. next.]
1. a. A reaching over some thing or person. b. Too great a reach, stretch, or strain; an excessive reach. c. Exaggeration.
1556J. Heywood Spider & F. lxx. 116 An ouer-rech aboue the weake wittes cure. 1644–7Cleveland Char. Lond. Diurn. Poems (1677) 101 It is like over-reach of Language, when every..Quack must be called a Doctor. 1815Sporting Mag. XLVI. 21 In an over-reach by Harmer a close took place, and Harmer was thrown. 1961B. Fergusson Watery Maze xv. 370 In Burma the Japs made their classic over-reach between March and June of 1944, when..they attempted to surround and defeat the British and Indian forces in Manipur. 1977Time 10 Jan. 55/3 Felker's personal grandeur may match his managerial overreach. Since last spring he has asked for: 1) a 25% increase in his 1975 salary of $120,461, 2) the wherewithal to buy a house in Long Island's ducal Hamptons, and 3) company purchase of his super-duplex.
2. In reference to a horse: The act of striking one of the fore feet with the corresponding hind foot; the injury so caused. (Cf. overreach v. 4.) Also attrib.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 309 If he halt..in the heel, as by over-reach or otherwise, then he will tread most on the toe. Ibid. 313 An upper attaint, or over-reach, upon the back sinew of the shanke, somewhat above the joynt. 1735Burdon Pocket Farrier 12 If your Horse is Lame, occasion'd by an over-reach of his Hind-Foot. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 210 A Horse is said to have got an Over-reach when he has cut his Fore-heel with the Point of his Hind shoe. 1900Trans. Highl. & Agric. Soc. 275 Some writers confine the term ‘over-reach’..to that form in which the hind foot over-reaches the fore one to such an extent as that the toe of the hind shoe comes in contact with the heel or the hollow of the heel of the fore-limb. 1932J. Buchan Gap in Curtain iv. 193 Verona's mare got an overreach in a bog. 1949‘J. Tey’ Brat Farrar xxviii. 250 All the horses were safely back and all well except that Buster had an overreach. 1963E. H. Edwards Saddlery xx. 151 A common injury sustained when jumping is caused by an over-reach and, in show jumpers, this often occurs low down on the heel or just above it. A rubber over-reach boot is usually the answer. 1976Horse & Hound 10 Dec. 5/1 You would still have to change your clothes before riding and again when you returned, in order to remove muddy over-reach boots and turn your horse out.
3. An act of overreaching in dealing; the gaining of an advantage by deception. (Cf. next, 6.)
1615Chapman Odyss. xiii. 425 Thou still-wit-varying wretch! Insatiate In over-reaches! 1859W. Chadwick Life De Foe vi. 323 No possible overreach could..be perpetrated on the other.
▪ II. overreach, v.|əʊvəˈriːtʃ|
Also in pres. tense † -reche, -retche, -reke, reik; pa. tense and pple. -reached; also † -raght, -raucht, -raught, -raft, etc.: see reach v.
[over- 5, 14, 9, 13, 21, 23, 26.]
1. trans. To reach or extend over or beyond; to rise above; to stretch beyond in space or time.
a1300Cursor M. 1838 (Cott.) Þe heiest fell þat was our⁓quare Þe flod ouer raght [v.r. -raȝt] seuen eln and mare. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. xii. 30 Her hands were foule and durtie, never washt In all her life, with long nayles over⁓raught. 1610Markham Masterp. ii. clxvii. 478 His vpper teeth will ouerreach, and hang ouer his neather teeth. a1677Hale Prim. Orig. Man. ii. iii. 144 That number..will arise to above 40000 Years, which will over-reach the Creation of Mankind. 1793Beddoes Math. Evid. 22 The other end will neither over-reach nor fall short of the other end of the lower. 1890Abp. Benson in Life II. 295 They did realise that there was a knowing and a thinking which far overreached themselves.
2. To reach or get at (a person, etc.) over an intervening space, to get within reach of; to overtake, come up with, attain to. Now dial.
a1300Cursor M. 22375 Þaas oþer all he [anticrist] mai ouer-reke Wit suerd he sal apon þam wreke. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 170 Alle to dede he brouht, þat his Galeie ouer rauht. a1400Morte Arth. 1508 Raunsone me resonabillye as I may ouer-reche, Aftyre my renttez in Rome may redyly forthire. 1596Spenser F.Q. vi. iii. 50 So that at length, after long weary chace,..He over raught him. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. i. 17 Certaine Players We ore-wrought on the way. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. viii. 379 Mr. Anson overreached the galeon, and lay on her bow. 1874G. Macdonald Malcolm I. v. 34 The rising tide had overreached and surrounded her. 1885Mucklebackit Rhymes 235 (E.D.D.), I overreached the couple, just as they were passing through the first gate beyond the village.
†b. To overtake, overpower. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 13898 Þan he braid to the buerne..Ouerraght hym full roidly, reft hym his swerd. c1430Freemasonry 114 But he be unbuxom to that craft, Or with falssehed ys over-raft. 1513Douglas æneis v. vi. 122 War nocht the sam misfortoun me ourraucht Quhilk Salyus betyde? 1586A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 59 Ouer⁓reached with the tediousnesse of the enterprise. 1638Drummond of Hawthornden Irene Wks. (1711) 163 So did..[they] find themselves surprised and over-reach'd with unexpected and inexpressible joys.
†c. intr. To reach over or across a boundary; to encroach. Obs.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 374 And if I repe, ouer-reche or ȝaf hem red þat repen, To seise to me with her sykel þat I ne sewe neure.
3. trans. To extend or spread over (something) so as to cover it. Also absol. or intr. (over- 9.)
a1400Morte Arth. 921 Þey roode by þat ryver, þat rynnyd so swythe, Þare þe ryndez ouerrechez with realle bowghez. 1565Jewel Reply Harding (1611) 184 The Empire of Rome, which then ouerreached a great part of the world. 1643Baker Chron. ii. 73 All favours from the King and Queene must passe by him, and the extent of his power over-reacheth all the Councell. 1838Maurice Kingd. Christ II. 14 This book..should overreach the feelings, notions and decisions of each particular mind.
4. intr. Of a horse or other quadruped: To bring a hind foot against the corresponding fore foot in walking or running; esp. to strike and injure the heel of the fore foot with the hind foot. (Cf. overreach n. 2.)
b. Also, generally, to bring a hind foot in front of or alongside a fore foot.
1523[see overreaching vbl. n.]. 1589R. Harvey Pl. Perc. 5 A horse may ouer reach in a true pace. 1601Holland Pliny I. 350 Lions and Camels only..keep pace in their march, foot by foot, that is to say, they neuer set their left foot before their right, nor ouer-reach with it. 1706Phillips, To Over-reach,..to hit the Fore-feet with the hinder, as some Horses do. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 48 They are also apt to over-reach, or hit their Hind-Shoes against their Fore-Shoes.
†c. trans. (from b.) Obs.
1616Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 693 The elder Harts in their gate doe neuer ouer-reach the former foot with the hinder..but it is not so in young Harts, for they in their gate doe ouer-reach and set the hinder foot more forward than the fore-foot, after the manner of the ambling Mule.
5. To reach beyond, to overshoot (a mark, etc.).
1540Coverdale Fruitf. Less. v. Wks. (Parker Soc.) I. 414 Whereas there be some men which overreach and go beyond this mark. 1877Baring-Gould Myst. Suffering 79 The infant will grasp at the moon and overreach an apple.
6. To gain an advantage over, get the better of, outdo:
a. in early use, in a neutral sense;
b. now always in a bad sense: to circumvent, outwit, cheat in dealing.
a.1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 240 How he over⁓reached their sleights and subtle combats. c1590Greene Fr. Bacon x. 82 Think'st thou with wealth to overreach me? 1623Bingham Xenophon 46 It behoueth vs..to be no more ouerreached by them. 1702Penn in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. IX. 172 Watch him, out-wit him, and honestly over⁓reach him.
b.1596Spenser F.Q. iv. ii. 10 For that false spright,..Was so expert in every subtile slight, That it could over⁓reach the wisest earthly wight. 1611Bible 1 Thess. iv. 6 That no man goe beyond and defraud his brother. Marg., Or, oppresse, or, ouerreach. 1727De Foe Syst. Magic i. iv. (1840) 118 An evidence how shrewedly the Devil overreached mankind. 1754Fielding Jonathan Wild ii. ii, He never made any bargain without over-reaching (or, in the vulgar phrase, cheating) the person with whom he dealt. 1848Mill Pol. Econ. i. vii. §5 (1876) 68 There is in all rich communities, a predatory population, who live by pillaging or over-reaching other people.
7. refl. To reach, stretch, strain oneself, or advance beyond one's strength, beyond one's aim, etc.
a1568R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 99 Some men of our time,..haue so ouer reached them selues, in making trew difference in the poyntes afore rehearsed. 1607Beaum. & Fl. Woman-Hater iv. ii, Prove it again, sir; it may be your sense was set too high, and so over-wrought itself. 1689Wood Life 16 July (O.H.S.) III. 306 A terrible fit of the crampe above the ancle..occasion'd..by over-retching my self. 1886Qualtrough Boat Sailer's Man. 138 A common error when working to windward in a race for the purpose of rounding a weather mark-boat, is for a boat to overreach herself.
b. refl. and intr. with admixture of sense 6.
1589Warner Alb. Eng. v. xxii. 99 The Parasite doth ouer-reach, And beares away the game. 1727Gay Fables i. xxvii. 10 But all men over-reach in trade. 1847James J. Marston Hall x, The first thing that excited suspicion in my mind that I had overreached myself. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 566 Their cupidity overreached itself. 1859Thackeray Virgin. xii, 'Tis known that American folks have become perfectly artless and simple in later times, and never grasp, and never overreach, and are never selfish now.
†8. trans. ? To turn over and examine; to over-haul. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy Prol. 69 The whiche bokes barely bothe as þai were, A Romayn ouerraght & right hom hym-seluyn, That Cornelius was cald. 1513Douglas æneis vi. ix. 136 Ane hiddeous grip [vultur] with busteous bowland beik His maw [jecur] immortale doith pik and ourreik.
9. intr. To reach too far (lit. and fig.); † to go beyond limits, go to excess; to exaggerate (obs.).
a1568R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 116 They will sonest ouer reach in taulke, and fardest cum behinde in writing. 1600Holland Livy x. xxx. 374 But some have overreached a little, & written, that the enemies were 40330 foot, and 46000 horse strong. 1619Willet Hexapla Daniel 311 The first account commeth short..so the other ouerreacheth aboue 60 yeares. 1638Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. vii. §35. 408 You overreach in saying they cannot. 1896Daily News 6 Aug. 7/3 A small boy..overreached and fell from an ornamental bridge into the stream.
†b. trans. To exaggerate, overrate. Obs.
1610Bp. Hall Apol. Brownists §55 That this Leprosie infects all persons and things is shamefully ouer-reacht. 1822Peterkin Notes 160 (E.D.D.) His Lordship's rents are over⁓reatched in the last valuation.
c. trans. To stretch out (an arm, etc.) too far.
1890Lancet 1 Feb. 241/1 She ‘over-reached’ her right arm and felt pain in the shoulder. |