Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense overloads, present participle overloading, past tense, past participle overloadedpronunciation note: The verb is pronounced (oʊvəʳloʊd). The noun is pronounced (oʊvəʳloʊd).
1. verb
If you overload something such as a vehicle, you put more things or people into it than it was designed to carry.
Don't overload the boat or it will sink. [VERB noun]
Large meals overload the digestive system. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: weigh down, burden, encumber, overburden More Synonyms of overload
overloadedadjective
Some trains were so overloaded that their suspension collapsed.
2. verb
To overload someone with work, problems, or information means to give them more work, problems, or information than they can cope with.
...an effective method that will not overload staff with yet more paperwork. [VERB noun + with]
Synonyms: strain, tax, burden, saddle More Synonyms of overload
Overload is also a noun.
57 per cent complained of work overload.
The greatest danger is that we simply create information overload for our executives.
overloadedadjective
The bar waiter was already overloaded with orders.
3. verb
If you overload an electrical system, you cause too much electricity to flow through it, and so damage it.
Never overload an electrical socket. [VERB noun]
More Synonyms of overload
overload in British English
verb (ˌəʊvəˈləʊd)
1. (transitive)
to put too large a load on or in
noun (ˈəʊvəˌləʊd)
2.
an excessive load
overload in American English
(ˌoʊvərˈloʊd; also, and for n. always, ˈoʊvərˌloʊd)
verb transitive
1.
to put too great a load in or on
noun
2.
too great a load
overload in Electrical Engineering
(oʊvərloʊd)
noun
(Electrical engineering: Electrical power, Power consumption)
Overload is a situation in which extra power is taken from an electrical supply, and the increased current causes the cables to heat up, which may end in an electrical fault.
In the case of overload, the corresponding switch on the breaker panel trips, cutting off only that partof the home or business.
This series provides protection of AC or DC loads against damage from overload currents.
Overload is a situation in which extra power is taken from an electrical supply, and the increasedcurrent causes the cables to heat up, which may end in an electrical fault.
Examples of 'overload' in a sentence
overload
It is often caused by a change in routine, or sensory overload.
The Sun (2016)
This sounds like another example of information overload.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
We look for capable people who are not overloaded with responsibilities already.
Christianity Today (2000)
Are you being overloaded with work or set impossible deadlines?
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
When we tried the lights it overloaded the system.
The Sun (2010)
The sensory overload will also ensure they will remember it for years afterwards.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
This boat is overloaded and you are putting our lives in danger.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The term is not new and it continues to suffer from the negative connotations of information overload.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
This week new research shows a system already overloaded.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Those twin pressures mean that more than once a week the system becomes overloaded.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Lose the roof and it is like a sensory overload.
The Sun (2006)
But we warned them the boat was overloaded.
The Sun (2008)
So is it helpful advice or just information overload?
The Sun (2016)
They made it to a small boat but it was already dangerously overloaded.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
If the trainer is overloaded, he simply stops and says so.
O'Connor, Joseph & Seymour, John Training with N.L.P. (1994)
Work overload Most of this book is devoted to the problem of demand outstripping resources.
Atkinson, Jacqueline M Coping with Stress at Work (1988)
You get sensory overload and your brain can't process how incredible the moment is.
The Sun (2012)
Muscle fatigue, or overload, causes small tears in the fibres.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Quotations
It is the last straw that breaks the camel's back
In other languages
overload
British English: overload VERB
If you overload something such as a vehicle, you put more things or people into it than it was designed to carry.
Don't overload the boat or it will sink.
American English: overload
Brazilian Portuguese: sobrecarregar
Chinese: 使超载
European Spanish: sobrecargar
French: surcharger
German: überladen
Italian: sovraccaricare
Japanese: 積みすぎる
Korean: 과적하다
European Portuguese: sobrecarregar
Latin American Spanish: sobrecargar
Chinese translation of 'overload'
overload
(əuvəˈləud)
vt
[vehicle]使超载(載) (shǐ chāozài)
to overload sb with sth使某人负(負)载(載)过(過)多某物 (shǐ mǒurén fùzài guò duō mǒuwù)
(Elec)[circuit]使超负(負)荷 (shǐ chāo fùhè)
n(u)
[of information, work]过(過)重的负(負)担(擔) (guò zhòng de fùdān)
to be overloaded (with sth)[vehicle](因某物而)超载(載) ((yīn mǒuwù ér) chāozài) [person, system](因某物而)负(負)荷过(過)重 ((yīn mǒuwù ér) fùhè guò zhòng)
1 (verb)
Definition
to put too large a load on or in (something)
Don't overload the boat or it will sink.
Synonyms
weigh down
burden
We decided not to burden him with the news.
encumber
fishermen encumbered with bulky clothing and boots
overburden
2 (verb)
an effective method that will not overload staff with more paperwork
Synonyms
strain
Resources will be further strained by new demands for housing.
tax
Overcrowding has taxed the city's ability to deal with waste.
burden
saddle
The war saddled the country with huge foreign debt.
oppress
The atmosphere in the room oppressed her.
overwork
They overwork their staff.
overcharge
weigh down
encumber
overtax
overburden
push to the limit
(noun)
Definition
an excessive load
An overload of stress can hold you back in your career.
Synonyms
excess
Avoid an excess of sugar in your diet.
too much
overdose
overburden
overabundance
Dairy farmers produce an overabundance of milk, keeping prices down.
superabundance
proverb
It is the last straw that breaks the camel's back
Additional synonyms
in the sense of burden
Definition
to weigh down
We decided not to burden him with the news.
Synonyms
weigh down,
worry,
load,
tax,
strain,
bother,
overwhelm,
handicap,
oppress,
inconvenience,
overload,
saddle with,
encumber,
trammel,
incommode
in the sense of encumber
Definition
to hinder or impede
fishermen encumbered with bulky clothing and boots
Synonyms
hamper,
restrict,
handicap,
slow down,
cramp,
inhibit,
clog,
hinder,
inconvenience,
overload,
impede,
weigh down,
trammel,
incommode (formal)
in the sense of oppress
Definition
to make anxious or uncomfortable
The atmosphere in the room oppressed her.
Synonyms
depress,
burden,
discourage,
torment,
daunt,
harass,
afflict,
sadden,
vex,
weigh down,
dishearten,
cast someone down,
dispirit,
take the heart out of,
deject,
lie or weigh heavy upon,
make someone despondent
Nearby words of
overload
overindulgence
overjoyed
overlay
overload
overlook
overly
overpower
Synonyms of 'overload'
overload
Explore 'overload' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of overabundance
Definition
more than is really needed
Dairy farmers produce an overabundance of milk, keeping prices down.
Synonyms
excess,
surplus,
glut,
plethora,
profusion,
surfeit,
oversupply,
embarrassment of riches,
superabundance,
superfluity
in the sense of overcharge
Synonyms
overload,
strain,
burden,
oppress,
surfeit,
overtax,
overburden,
overtask
in the sense of overwork
They overwork their staff.
Synonyms
exploit,
exhaust,
fatigue,
weary,
oppress,
wear out,
prostrate,
overtax,
drive into the ground,
be a slave-driver or hard taskmaster to
in the sense of saddle
Definition
to burden with (a responsibility)
The war saddled the country with huge foreign debt.
Synonyms
burden,
load,
lumber (British, informal),
charge,
tax,
task,
encumber
in the sense of tax
Definition
to make heavy demands on
Overcrowding has taxed the city's ability to deal with waste.