overthwart 
Alas, what cause is there so overthwart 
That Nobleness itself makes thus unkind; 
Sir P. Sidney (Albert Eng. Garner, I. 525). 
II. H. 1. An adverse or thwarting circum- 
stance. 
A hart well stay'd in overthwart es depc 
Hopeth aniendes ; in swete, doth feare the sowre. 
Surrey, Praise of Meane and Constant Estate. 
2. Contradiction; quarreling; wrangling. 
What have wee here before my face, these unseemely 
and malepart overthwarts ? 
Lyly, Endimion, iii. 1. (A ares.) 
overthwart (6-ver-thwart'), v. t. [< overtlucart, 
rtrfi 1 .] 1. To cross; pass or lie across. 
News were brought hither that many of the Turk's gal- 
leys were drowned by over-thwarting the seas. 
Ascliam, To the Fellows of St. John's. 
[Pallas) stood 
Somewhat apart, her clear and bared limbs 
O'erthwarted with the brazen-headed spear 
Upon her pearly shoulder leaning cold. 
Tennyson, (Enone. 
2. To thwart; oppose; hinder. 
When I pretend to please, she ouerthwarti me still. 
Gascoigne, Flowers, Divorce of a Lover. 
All the practice of the church rashly they break and 
overthwart. 
Stapleton, Fortress of the Faith (1565), fol. 127. (Latham.) 
[Obsolete or archaic in both uses.] 
OVerthwartingt (6-ver-thwar'ting), . [Verbal 
n.of overthwart,v.] Contradiction; wrangling. 
Necessary it is that among fri[e]nds there should bee 
some ouerthwarting. 
Lyly, Euphues and his England, p. 378. 
overthwartlyt (6-ver-thwart'li), adv. [< ME. 
overthwertly, overqujertly ; < overthwart + -% 2 .] 
Transversely; across; crossly; perversely. 
Obstinate operam dat. He deales overthwartly with me. 
He yieldes not an inch. He stands to his tackling. 
Terence in English (1614). (Hares.) 
overthwartnesst(o'ver-thwart-nes),. 1. The 
state of being athwart or lying across. 2. Con- 
trariness ; perverseness. 
Of verie overthwartiies you did write to me so, by cause 
I should aunswere to the same purpose. 
Guevara, Letters (tr. by Hellowes, 1577), p. 56. 
My younger sister, indeed, might have been married to 
a far greater fortune, had not the overthwartneis of some 
neighbours interrupted it. Lord Herbert, Life, p. 53. 
overtilt (6-ver-tilf), v. t. [< overtilten; < over 
+ tilt, t'.] To tilt over; overturn. 
Antecryst cam thanne and al the croppe of treuthe 
Torned it vp so doune and ouertilte the rote. 
Piers Plowman (B), xx. 53. 
overtime (6'ver-tim), n. Time during which 
one works beyond the regular hours. 
overtime (6'ver-tlm'), adv. During extra time : 
as, to work overtime. 
OVertimelyt (o-ver-tlm'li), adv. [< ME. over- 
timely die; < over + timely, adv."] Untimely; 
prematurely ; unseasonably. 
Heeres hore are shad overtymeliche upon myn heved. 
Chaucer, Boethius, i. meter 1. 
OVertimelyt (6-ver-tIm'li), . [< over + timely, 
a.] Unseasonable; premature. 
Call to remembrance (I praithee) the vaine youthfull 
fantasie and ouertimelie death of fathers and thy brethren. 
Holinshed, Hist, of England, Coanus, an. 540. 
overtippledt (6-ver-tip'ld), a. Intoxicated. 
Richard, the last Abbot, Sonne to Earle Gislebert, being 
over-tipled, as it were, with wealth, disdaining to bee un- 
der the Bishop of Lincoln, dealt with the king . . . that a 
Bishops See might be erected here. 
Holland, tr. of Camden, p. 493. (Dames.) 
overtire (6-ver-tir'), v. I. trans. To tire exces- 
sively ; fatigue to exhaustion. 
Marching with al possible speede on foote, notwithstand- 
ing . . . the ouertirinij tedious deepe sands. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 613. 
He his guide requested, . . . 
As oner-tired, to let him lean awhile 
With both his arms on those two massy pillars. 
Milton, S. A., 1. 1632. 
II. intrans. To become excessively fatigued. 
Which is the next, and must be, for fear of your overtir- 
ing, the last of our discourse. 
Bp. Hall, Sermons, xxxiii., Ps. Ix. 2. 
OVertitle (6-yer-ti'tl), 11. t. To give too high a 
title to ; claim too much for. 
Omrtitting his own quarrels to be God's cause. 
Fuller, Holy War, p. 250. 
overtly (6'vert-li), adv. [< ME. overtlye; < 
overt + -/i/ 2 .] In an overt manner; in open 
view; openly; publicly. 
Whatsoever he overtly pretended, he held in secret a 
contrary council. Raleigh, Hist World, Pref., p. 21). 
Good men are never overtly despised, but that they are 
first calumniated. Young, Sermons, II. 389. 
overtoil (6-ver-toil'), r. t. To overtask or over- 
drive with work; overwork ; wear out by toil. 
4208 
The truth is, that valour may be overtott'd and overcom 
at last with endless overcomming. Hilton, Hist. Eug., iii. 
They were so ouer-toiled, many fell sicke, but none died. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, II. 128. 
Ocertoil'd 
By that day's grief and travel. 
Tennyson, Geraiut. 
over-toise (6-ver-toiz'), *> t. [< E - over + F. toi- 
ser, measure, < toisc, a fathom, a certain mea- 
sure: see toixe."] To measure over; measure out. 
Picking a sustenance from wear and tear 
By implements it sedulous employs 
To undertake, lay down, mete out, o'er-toise 
Sordello. Browning, Sordello. 
overtone (6'ver-ton), . In music, a harmonic. 
See harmonic, n., 1. 
The series of elementary sounds into which a clang can 
be resolved we shall call its partial tones, sometimes dis- 
tinguishing, among these, the lowest, or fundamental 
tone, from the others, or overtones of the clang. 
S. Taylor, Science of Music, p. 73. 
overtop (6-ver-top'), v. I. trans. 1. To rise 
above or beyond the top of. 
Where her imperious fane her former seat disdains, 
And proudly over-tops the spacious neighbouring plains. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, iii. 16. 
I see a column of slow-rising smoke 
O'ertop the lofty wood that skirts the wild. 
Cowper, Task, i. 558. 
2. To overstep ; exceed. 
If Kings presume to overtopp the Law by which they 
raigne for the public good, they are by Law to be reduc'd 
into order. Milton, Eikonoklastes, xxviii. 
3. To excel ; surpass ; outstrip. 
The Majestic of the Gospel must be broken and lie flat, 
if it can be overtopt by the novelty of any other Decree. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng., i. 
What they do in present. 
Though less than yours in past, must o'ertop yours. 
Shak., T. and C., iii. 3. 164. 
A distant imitation of a forward fop, and a resolution 
to overtop him in his way, are the distinguishing marks of 
a Dapper. Steele, Tatler, No. 85. 
In them [Dante and Milton] the man somehow overtops 
the author. Lowell, Among my Books, 2d ser., p. 276. 
II. intrans. To rise above others; throw 
others into the shade. 
Being once perfected how to grant suits, 
How to deny them, who to advance and who 
To trash for over-topping. Shak., Tempest, i. 2. 81. 
overtower (6-ver-tou'er), v. I. intrans. To 
tower or soar too high. 
This miscarriage came very seasonably to abate their 
overtowering conceits of him. Fuller, Holy War, p. 83. 
II. trans. To tower over; overtop. 
overtrade (6-ver-trad'), r. i. To purchase goods 
or lay in a stock beyond the means of payment, 
the needs of the community, or one's means of 
disposal to advantage. 
Whereby the kingdomes stocke of treasure may be sure 
to be kept from being diminished, by any ouer-trading of 
the forrainer. Bacon, Hist. Hen. VII. , p. 60. 
In 1836 and 1837, the overtrading carried on in this 
country and in the United States caused a rapid increase 
in the number of joint-stock banks. 
S. Douxll, Taxes in England, III. 24. 
OVertreatt (6-ver-tref), v. t. To prevail upon 
as by treating or entreaty ; over-persuade; over- 
talk. 
Why lettes he not my wordes sinke in his eares 
So hard to ouertreatef Surrey, jEneid, iv. 
overtrip (6-ver-trip'), v. t. To trip over; walk 
nimbly over. 
In such a night 
Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew. 
Shak., M. of V., v. 1. 7. 
overtrowt, v. i. [ME. ocertrowen; < over + 
trow."] To trust too much. 
For I am no thing ouer-trowynye to my self, but not in 
this thing I am justified, for he that demeth me is the 
Lord. Wyclif, 1 Cor. iv. 4. 
overtrowt,''. [ME., < overtrow, v."\ Mistrust; 
suspicion. 
Bi quinte contenance to come he granted, 
For he ne durst openly for over-trowe of gile. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.X 1. 1402. 
overtrust (6-ver-trusf), f. I. intrans. To have 
too much trust or confidence. 
Thus it shall befall 
THm who, to worth in woman overtrusting, 
Lets her will rule. Milton, P. L., ix. 1183. 
II. trans. To trust with too much confidence. 
Bp. Hall, Cases of Conscience, iii. 9. 
overtrust (o'ver-trust), iif Too much trust or 
confidence. 
Wink no more in slothful overtrust. 
Tennyson, Death of Wellington. 
overture (6'ver-tur), n. [< OF. overture, F. 
ouverture, an opening, a proposal, < overt, open : 
see orert.~\ If. An opening; an aperture; a 
hole. 
overturn 
The squirrels also foresee a tempest coming; and look, 
in what corner the wind is like to stand, on that side they 
stop up the mouths of their holes, and make an overture 
on the other against it. Holland, tr. of Pliny, viii. 38. 
2f. An open place. 
The wasteful! hyll unto his threate 
Is a playne overture. Spenser, Shep. Cal., July. 
3. Opening; disclosure; discovery. [Rare.] 
I wish . . . 
You had ouly in your silent judgment tried it, 
Without more overture. Shak., W. T., ii. 1. 172. 
Then Heracleon demanded of him whether this doc- 
trine concerned Plato? and how it was that Plato had 
given the overture and beginning of such matter ? 
Holland, tr. of Plutarch, p. 1085. 
4. In music, an orchestral movement properly 
serving as a prelude or introduction to an ex- 
tended work, as an opera or oratorio, its form 
varies from a brief flourish to a medley of melodies or 
themes extracted from the body of the work, or to a 
composition of independent form complete in itself. In 
some cases overtures are divided into two or more sec- 
tions or movements, resembling those of a suite or a sym- 
phony, each modeled upon some dance form, the sonata 
form, the fugue form, etc.; but they are more frequently 
in a single continuous movement. Many veritable over- 
tures being successfully used as concert pieces, it is now 
customary to give the name to detached works for orches- 
tra which are intended simply for concert use, though in 
such cases a special title is usually given to the composi- 
tion. 
5. Something offered to open the way to some 
conclusion; something proposed for accep- 
tance or rejection; a proposal: as, to make 
overtures of peace. 
Sec. Lord. I hear there is an overture of peace. 
First Lord. Nay, I assure you, a peace concluded. 
Shak., All's Well, iv. 3. 46. 
I believe without any Scruples what you write, that Sir 
Wm. St. Geon made an Overture to him [Sir Walter Ra- 
leigh] of procuring his pardon for 15002. 
Howell, Letters, ii. 61. 
Specifically 6. Eccles., in Presbyterian church 
law, a formal proposal submitted to an ecclesi- 
astical court. An overture may proceed either from 
an inferior court or from one or more members of the 
court to which it is presented. In the General Assem- 
bly of the Church of Scotland (as in the supreme courts 
.of most Presbyterian churches) legislative action is initi- 
ated by adopting an overture and sending it to presby- 
teries for their consideration. See the quotation. 
Before the General Assembly passes any Acts which are 
to be binding rules and constitutions to the Church, . . . 
the same must be first proposed as an overture to the As- 
sembly, and, being passed by them as such, be remitted 
to the consideration of the several Presbyteries of this 
Church, and their opinions and consent reported to the 
next General Assembly. ... If returns . . . show that a 
majority of the Presbyteries approve, the overture as sent 
down may then be passed, and most frequently is passed, 
into an Act by the Assembly. 
W. Hair, Digest of Church Laws, p. SK. 
=Syn. 5. Proposition, etc. See proposal. 
overture (6'ver-tur), v. t. [< overture, .] Ec- 
cles., to submit an overture to. See overture, 
n., 6. 
overturn (6-ver-tern'), v. t. [<ME. overtnrnen, 
overtyrnen ; < over + turn.'} 1. To overset; 
upset ; overthrow. 
I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tum- 
bled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and 
smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay 
along. Judges vii. 13. 
When wasteful war shall statues overturn, 
And broils root out the work of masonry. 
Shak., Sonnets, Iv. 
2. To subvert; ruin; destroy; bring to naught. 
But pain is perfect misery, the worst 
Of evils, and, excessive, overturns 
All patience. MUton, P. L., vi. 463. 
3. To overpower; conquer; overwhelm. 
Achilles also afterward arose, 
Hit on his horse, hurlit into fight, 
Mony Troiens ouertyrnyt, tumblit to dethe. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.X L 7243. 
He withholdeth the waters, and they dry up ; also he 
sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. Job xii. 15. 
Let us but blow on them, 
The vapour of our valour will o'erturn them. 
SAot.,Hen. V., iv. 2. 24. 
= Syn. Overturn, Overthrow, Subvert, Invert, upset, throw 
down, beat down, prostrate. The first three of the itali- 
cized words indicate violence and destructiveness. In- 
vert is rarely used where the action is not careful and with 
a purpose : as, to invert a goblet to prevent its being filled. 
That which is overturned or overthrmm is brought down 
from a standing or erect position to lie prostrate. Over- 
throw indicates more violence or energy than overturn, as 
throw is stronger than turn. That which is subverted is 
reached to the very bottom and goes to wreck in the turn- 
ing: as, to subvert the very foundations of justice. To 
invert is primarily to turn upside down, but it may be 
used figuratively, of things not material , for turning wrong 
side before or reversing : as, to invert the order of a sen- 
tence. See defeat, v. t. , and demolish. 
II. intrana. To be overturned; capsize: as, 
a boat that is likely to overturn. 
overturn (6' ver-tern ), M. 1 . The state of being 
overturned or subverted ; the act of overturn- 
ing; overthrow. 
