overreach

1. (ambitransitive) To reach above or beyond, especially to an excessive degree.Examples: "[...] I cannot forget what the poet Martial saith; "O quantum est subitis casibus ingenium!" signifying, that accident is many times more subtle than foresight, and overreacheth expectation; [...]"; "Writhing under his deficiency of means, he [William Hazlitt] struggled to supersede practice, overreach time, and bound at once to the conclusion."; "The most eloquent manner of reading and of speaking, is the most easy of attainment, if sought for through the proper channel; for it is as simple as it is natural. But many who aim at it, fail by the very efforts adopted to gain it. They overreach the mark. They shoot too high. Instead of breathing forth their sentiments in the fervid glow of simple nature, which always warms, and animates, and interests the hearer, they work themselves up into a sort of frigid bombast, which chills and petrifies him."Synonyms: exceed, excel, forpass, go beyond, outcompass, outstep, outstrip, overgoambitransitive

2. (ambitransitive) To reach above or beyond, especially to an excessive degree.Examples: "[A]n equitable mortgage, by deposit of deeds to a person, bona fide, and without notice, will give him a preferable equity; and will overreach the vendor's equitable lien on the estate for any part of the purchase-money."; "Wood therefore cannot, in equity, be permitted to proceed in his ejectment suit, to recover possession of the land under the title he has acquired from the state, by the attorney general's sale, and which at law overreaches the complainant's title."; "[page 215] City of London B[uilding] S[ociety] v. Flegg decided that the occupiers are not protected since a sale by two trustees overreaches. [...] [page 216] The Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the occupation of the Fleggs but, after universal academic execration, that decision was unanimously reversed by the [House of] Lords. Their occupation rights had indeed been overreached. [...] Two trustees effected what appeared to the lenders to be a proper mortgage, so that the rights of the beneficiaries were swept off the title and transferred to the mortgage money. The Fleggs could not enforce their rights against the lenders."Synonyms: exceed, excel, forpass, go beyond, outcompass, outstep, outstrip, overgoambitransitivetransitive

3. (ambitransitive, figuratively) To do something beyond an appropriate limit, or beyond one's ability; to overextend.Examples: "The British Empire would not have endured so long had it not been for a discreet sense of moderation in its rulers, generation after generation. The coolness displayed towards the colonies by successive British Governments has at least prevented the empire-builders from overreaching themselves."; "Records [of library loans] must be protected from the self-appointed guardians of public and private morality and from officials who might overreach their constitutional prerogatives. Without such protection, there would be a chilling effect on our library users as inquiring minds turn away from exploring varied avenues of thought because they fear the potentiality of others knowing their reading history."; "Professionals must remind themselves not to overreach the extent of their data and not to substitute values for scientifically supported facts, and must know when to inform fact-finders about the extent of the limits to knowledge."ambitransitivefiguratively

4. (ambitransitive, reflexive, equestrianism) Of a horse: to strike the heel of a forefoot with the toe of a hindfoot.Examples: "Attinto, [...] Alſo when a horſe is tainted or hurt, or ouerreacheth one foote with another, and withal doth hurt a ſinew."; "Defective or bad form will predispose a horse to overreach. Bad shoeing will also be liable to cause the hind-foot to catch the forward one."ambitransitivereflexive

5. (ambitransitive, now rare) To deceive, to swindle.Examples: "Say, thou that by thy cunning overreachest thy brother in buying, selling, or bargaining, or deceivest the trust reposed in thee by thy friend, couldst thou brook to be in like sort cheated thyself?"; "Don't you see that, by this step, I overreach him? I shall be entitled to the girl's fortune without settling a ducat on her!"; "Thou ſweareſt in his hearing; thou overreacheſt before his eyes; thou makeſt a mock of religion, and encourageſt him to do it."Synonyms: cheat, defraud, abuse, counterfeit, deceive, dissemble, dissimulate, feignambitransitivearchaic

6. (intransitive, nautical) To sail on one tack farther than is necessary.Examples: "Where a sail vessel close hauled and a steam vessel approach so as to involve risk of collision, the rule requiring the sail vessel to keep her course requires her to beat out her tack. [...] She is not required to tack short on signal from the steam vessel when there is danger in so doing, nor need she remain in stays or overreach longer than usual when such measures are not apparently necessary to avoid a collision."intransitive