overstep
/ˌoʊvɚˈstɛp/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.38 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To go too far beyond (a limit); especially, to cross boundaries or exceed norms or conventions.
Transitive verb
verb
To move with a gait such that the hind foot touches the ground forward of the point where the front foot touches the ground.
noun
A gait in which the hind foot touches ground in front of where the front foot touches the ground.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "That color scheme really oversteps the bounds of good taste."
- "As a result, there was a gain of 3½ min. from Goraghwood to Dundalk, which we reached 2 min. early. Nevertheless, the customs officials succeeded in overstepping their 13-min. time allowance, and we left 1 min. late."
- "As an instance of this inability to control the muscles well, may be cited the almost constant tendency to understep or overstep especially with the fore legs."
- "If a sense of feeling gave him some knowledge of the width of the steps the fact that the third step was ⅝ of an inch wider could not cause him to overstep, but if it had any effect it would tend to cause him to understep."
- "Cerebellar dysfunction is characterized by truncal ataxia, a broad-based stance, dysmetria in which the limbs either overstep (hypermetria) or understep (hypometria), and tremor that is most pronounced when the animal attempts a goal-orientated movement (intention tremor)."
- "For quotations using this term, see Citations:overstep."
Etymology
From Middle English *oversteppen, from Old English ofersteppan, from Proto-Germanic *uberstapjaną (“to step over; overstep”). Cognate with Dutch overstappen, German Low German överstappen, German überstapfen, überstepfen. Cf. transgress. By surface analysis, over- + step.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *oversteppen, ofersteppan, *uberstapjaną
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌoʊvɚˈstɛp/
- British English: /ˌəʊvəˈstɛp/