overset

[ verb oh-ver-set; noun oh-ver-set ]
See synonyms for overset on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),o·ver·set, o·ver·set·ting.
  1. to upset or overturn; overthrow.

  2. to throw into confusion; disorder physically or mentally.

verb (used without object),o·ver·set, o·ver·set·ting.
  1. to become upset, overturned, or overthrown.

  2. Printing.

    • (of type or copy) to set in or to excess.

    • (of space) to set too much type for.

noun
  1. the act or fact of oversetting; upset; overturn.

  2. Also called overmatter. Printing. matter set up in excess of space.

Origin of overset

1
1150–1200; Middle English oversetten;see over-, set

Other words from overset

  • o·ver·set·ter, noun

Words Nearby overset

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use overset in a sentence

  • The captains huge hand, swinging back, overset the bottle, that gurgled out its life-blood.

    Cursed | George Allan England
  • With these words he left her; and, though abashed and overset, she found no sensation so powerful as joy for the safety of Edgar.

    Camilla | Fanny Burney
  • But the very theory of our Government will be overset by a reversal of the rule which I have attempted to describe.

    The Prime Minister | Anthony Trollope
  • He came, with a part of his army composed of those very Catholics, to overset the power of a Popish prince.

  • There was about this letter an absence of sentiment, and an absence of threat, and an absence of fuss, which almost overset her.

    Orley Farm | Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for overset

overset

verb(ˌəʊvəˈsɛt) -sets, -setting or -set (tr)
  1. to disturb or upset

  2. printing to set (type or copy) in excess of the space available

noun(ˈəʊvəˌsɛt)
  1. another name for overmatter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012