To pass a slower moving object or entity (on the side closest to oncoming traffic).
Used in a Sentence
overtook
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for overtook.
Editorial note
The US is the #2 manufacturer globally, China finally overtook the US just a couple of years ago.
Examples16
Definitions3
Parts of speech1
Quick take
To pass a slower moving object or entity (on the side closest to oncoming traffic).
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of overtook gathered in one view.
To take by surprise; surprise and overcome; carry away.
(transitive) To become greater than something else in quantity, worth, etc.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for overtook.
verb
To pass a slower moving object or entity (on the side closest to oncoming traffic).
verb
To take by surprise; surprise and overcome; carry away.
verb
(transitive) To become greater than something else in quantity, worth, etc.
Example sentences
The US is the #2 manufacturer globally, China finally overtook the US just a couple of years ago.
An article about how and why Apple overtook Microsoft would be interesting but this was not it.
Chrome overtook IE because it is (or at least at the time, was) a superior product.
True, they need good design more than Berkshire, but it feels like form completely overtook function.
It funds over 150 organisations and overtook Goldman Sachs last year as the biggest corporate political donor in the USA.
At the same time, Apple’s iOS & Google’s Android emerged and overtook operating system dominance.
Rather, it's taking the incremental release path that used to be quite common before the Giganto Kablooy Superhero Invasion overtook everything.
I was out very late near Hampstead Heath and I overtook a car, definitely exceeding the speed limit.
Then Intel went back to the P6 to produce Core, and rapidly overtook AMD.
Ugh, so this is example where Chomskyian linguistics just totally overtook the field.
I also agree-- the developer tools in Chrome are pretty critical for me, in my opinion they overtook firebug.
And really, Firefox overtook Chrome in performance a while ago already.
Quote examples
Here is Paul Krugman writing in a book review in 2014: "Almost nobody predicted the immense economic crisis that overtook the United States and Europe in 2008.
:D" At my last job, fighting about CSS and dev processes sometimes overtook actual coding and design.
I think quite a lot of why Apple overtook was focus as in the Jonny I've quotes below: "There is a clear goal and it isn't to make money.
What makes this such a popular area of research is not that they are taller, but that they overtook everybody else in no time: "In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, people of European descent in North America were far taller than those in Europe and were the tallest in the world.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use overtook in a sentence?
The US is the #2 manufacturer globally, China finally overtook the US just a couple of years ago.
What does overtook mean?
To pass a slower moving object or entity (on the side closest to oncoming traffic).
What part of speech is overtook?
overtook is commonly used as verb.