overtake
verb /ˌəʊvəˈteɪk/
/ˌəʊvərˈteɪk/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they overtake | /ˌəʊvəˈteɪk/ /ˌəʊvərˈteɪk/ |
| he / she / it overtakes | /ˌəʊvəˈteɪks/ /ˌəʊvərˈteɪks/ |
| past simple overtook | /ˌəʊvəˈtʊk/ /ˌəʊvərˈtʊk/ |
| past participle overtaken | /ˌəʊvəˈteɪkən/ /ˌəʊvərˈteɪkən/ |
| -ing form overtaking | /ˌəʊvəˈteɪkɪŋ/ /ˌəʊvərˈteɪkɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] overtake (somebody/something) (especially British English) to go past a moving vehicle or person ahead of you because you are going faster than they are
- He pulled out to overtake a truck.
- It's dangerous to overtake on a bend.
- [transitive] overtake somebody/something to become greater in number, amount or importance than something else synonym outstrip
- Nuclear energy may overtake oil as the main fuel.
- We mustn't let ourselves be overtaken by our competitors.
- Quinine has been overtaken by newer drugs.
- [transitive, often passive] overtake somebody/something if something unpleasant overtakes a person, it unexpectedly starts to happen and to affect them
- The climbers were overtaken by bad weather.
- Sudden panic overtook her.
- Our original plan was overtaken by events (= the situation changed very rapidly) and we had to make a new one.