▪ I. overhaul, v.
(əʊvəˈhɔːl)
[over- 5, 14.]
1. Naut. trans. To slacken (a rope) by pulling in the opposite direction to that in which it is drawn in hoisting; to release and separate the blocks of (a tackle) in this way.
| 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 28 Hawle off your ley sheats, overhawle the ley bowlin, ease your mayne brases. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §158 Having so many times to stop, overhawl, and flit,..the work could not go on very speedily. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., A tackle when released is overhauled. To get a fresh purchase, ropes are overhauled. To reach an object, or take off strain, weather-braces are overhauled. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 61 Overhaul the bights down. |
2. Naut. and general. To pull asunder for the purpose of examining in detail; to investigate or examine thoroughly (e.g. with a view to repairs, etc.). Cf. haul v. 1 b.
| 1705 J. Logan in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. X. 63 To appoint any person to overhaul these papers and accounts. 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 4 The People were generally employ'd in over-hauling the Rigging. Ibid. 89 To-day I over-haul'd the Powder, and told the Lieutenant that I had twenty-three half Barrels in Store. 1800 Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 324 We have..decided in Senate on the motion for overhauling the editor of the Aurora. 1830 De Quincey in Blackw. Mag. XXVIII. 673 His own expressions of ‘overhaul’, for investigate, and ‘attackable’, are in the lowest style of colloquial slang. 1884 Mrs. C. Praed Zéro xiii, The drains..are being overhauled. |
3. To overtake, come up with; to gain upon. See overhale v. 4.
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §266 The tide had overhauled us, and driven us to the eastward of our proper mooring-place. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xix, We shall fall in with plenty of boats and vessels if we coast it up to Palermo, and they may overhaul us. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., A ship overhauls another in chase when she evidently gains upon her. 1886 Pall Mall G. 27 Sept. 10/2 The empty carriages were..overhauled by a down fast goods train, which ran with great violence into the excursion train. 1933 D. L. Sayers Hangman's Holiday 187 He..drove on, overhauling the police car. 1955 Times 12 May 4/3 (heading) American boxers overhauled. 1976 Horse & Hound 3 Dec. 53/2 Their pilot..circling left-handed..doubled back to Loscar Common Plantation again and was overhauled in some kale after a good 35 min. |
Hence overˈhauler; overˈhauling vbl. n.
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Overhauling. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. xv. (Rtldg.) ¶11 The most aggravating circumstance..was the overhauling of his accounts. 1860 Tomlinson Useful Arts, Textile Fabr., Paper 12 The rags undergo another careful examination by women called over⁓lookers, or over-haulers. 1893 Chicago Advance 21 Dec., The wholesale overhauling and threatened turning upside down of existing tariff conditions. |
▪ II. overhaul, n.
(ˈəʊvəhɔːl)
[f. prec.]
The action, or an act, of overhauling; a thorough examination or scrutiny, esp. with a view to repairs.
| 1826 B. Hall Voy. Loo-Choo I. i. 28 In the course of this overhaul, to which I most willingly submitted, they lighted on a pocket compass. 1891 Labour Commission Gloss., Overhaul, the survey made by the Board of Trade inspector or other Government Official when a ship is about to undergo repairs. |