▪ I. overshoot, v.
(əʊvəˈʃuːt)
[over- 13, 4, 5, 7, 22, 23, 27. Cf. MHG. überschieȥen, Ger. überschieszen, Du. overschieten.]
I. 1. a. trans. To shoot, dart, run, or pass beyond (a point, limit, stage, etc.).
| c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 383 The houndes had ouershette hym alle And were vpon a defaulte y-falle. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 680 The purblind hare,..to ouer-shut his troubles, How he outruns the wind, and with what care, He crankes and crosses with a thousand doubles. 1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 94 Dogs, who running fleeter, over-shoot their game. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) II, The first stage of inflammation..must have been over⁓shot in the violence of the action. 1885 Law Times LXXX. 135/2 In consequence of the train overshooting the platform. |
† b. Naut. To sail past (a port, etc.). Obs.
| c 1565 Sir J. Hawkins's 2nd Voy. to W. Ind. in Arb. Garner V. 113 A Spaniard, who told him how far off he was from Rio de la Hacha: which, because he would not over⁓shoot, he anchored that night again. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 106 Wee were short 80 miles of the place, whereas we thought wee had beene ouershot by east fiftie miles. 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4912/2 This Vessel..hath over-shot her Port. 1803 Naval Chron. IX. 160 She overshot her port in the night. |
† c. To pass over (a period of time); to allow (time) to pass by. Obs.
| a 1584 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 556 Persawis thou nocht quhat precious tyme Thy slewthing dois ouirschute? 1610 Willet Hexapla Dan. 312 The first beginning right, ouershoote the 70 weeks. a 1617 Bayne Lect. (1634) 206 If wee have overshot time wherein wee might have saved some twenty pound matter, what a griefe is it to be so overshot? |
d. trans. and intr. To fly beyond (a designated landing-point) while attempting to land an aircraft. Also transf.
| 1920 Flight XII. 368 (caption) Pilot heads..for aerodrome, knowing for certain he will overshoot. 1928 Lit. Digest 12 May 73/1 To ‘put her on hot’ is to land fast, usually resulting in ‘overshooting’ the field. 1932 D. Garnett Rabbit in Air i. 35 In my first attempt I thought I had overshot for some reason when I had undershot hopelessly. 1958 ‘Castle’ & ‘Hailey’ Flight into Danger vi. 79, I can't guarantee at all that this plane will get down on the field. She's just as likely to pan down short or overshoot. 1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon xviii. 248 We over-shot the runway once. 1974 P. Erdman Silver Bears iii. 54 The MG suddenly swung off the road... Doc was caught by surprise and overshot. Slowly he backed up. |
2. a. To shoot a missile, etc., over or above (the mark or thing aimed at) and so to miss; to shoot beyond; also, of the missile: To pass over or beyond (the mark).
In quot. a 1400–50 the sense is uncertain: perh. = if thou over-shoot (the) shot.
| [a 1400–50 Alexander 1767* (Dubl. MS.) Yf þou shote ouer sheet þou shendes þi flayne.] a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII 18 b, Their enemyes discharged their ordinaunce..and ouer⁓shot them. 1555 Eden Decades 108 So to ouershute them that none myght be hurt therby. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. ix. §39 [They] discharged their Cannon at them, but over-shot them. 1897 Chicago Advance 9 Sept. 327/3 This charge goes wide from the mark. It hits some, but it over⁓shoots the body. |
b. fig. esp. in overshoot the mark, to go or venture too far, or farther than is intended or is proper.
| 1588 Fraunce Lawiers Log. Ded., See how farre I have overshot my marke. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. Wks. 1738 II. 5 In this, Diana overshot her Oracle. 1702 Eng. Theophrast. 303 The greatest fault of a penetrating wit is not coming short of the mark but overshooting it. 1835 Browning Paracelsus v. 135 Your cunning has o'ershot its aim. 1871 Freeman Hist. Ess. Ser. i. vii. (1875) 196 We have somewhat overshot our mark in order to complete the history of the English dominion in France. |
c. absol. (lit. and fig.)
| 1625 Markham Souldiers Accid. 9 The hindmost must..shoot their fellowes before through the heads, or els will overshoot. 1733 Pope Ess. Man iii. 89 But honest Instinct comes a volunteer, Sure never to o'er-shoot, but just to hit. 1897 Outing (U.S.) XXX. 330/1 If I happened to overshoot I was bound to bag a heifer. |
3. a. to overshoot oneself: to shoot over or beyond one's mark; to go farther than one intends in any course; to overreach oneself, miss one's mark by going too far; to exaggerate; to fall into error.
| 1530 Palsgr. 649/2, I never wyste wyseman overshote hymselfe thus sore. 1538 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 165. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 11 He was the first in a maner, that put his hand to write Commentaries..and therefore no marueile, if he ouershot himselfe many times. 1678 Norris Coll. Misc. (1699) 84 So th' eager Hawk makes sure of's prize, Strikes with full might, but over-shoots himself and dyes. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1785) IV. 214 And there she stopt; having almost overshot herself; as I designed she should. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. x. (ad fin.), His irony has overshot itself; we see through it, and perhaps through him. |
† b. fig. to be overshot: to have overshot oneself, to be wide of the mark; to be mistaken, deceived, or in error. Obs.
| 1535 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 44 Ye ar farre ouershotte. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xiv. v. (1886) 306 Even wise and learned men hereby are shamefullie overshot. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. vii. 134 'Tis not the first time you were ouer-shot. 1656 Jeanes Fuln. Christ 20 Then are they much overshot and deeply to be blamed, who..harden their hearts against Gods..calling. |
† 4. fig. To shoot too hard, utter (a word) too violently, throw out or allow to escape unguardedly.
| 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 2 John 53 As whan by occasion we ouershote a worde agaynste oure frende, whiche we are sory for by and by that it ouer shot us. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iii. iii. (1651) 325 A word overshot, a blow in choler, a game at tables..may make us equal in an instant. |
5. To push or drive beyond the proper limit.
| 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. ii. vii. 109 Least in the Contractions of the Heart, the Valves being forced beyond their pitch and overshot, should be unable to retain the Blood. 1795 Herschel in Phil. Trans. LXXXV. 392 This method will even throw back the figure upon the dial, if it should have been overshot a little. |
6. To shoot or dart over or above.
| a 1774 Harte (T.), High rais'd on fortune's hill, new Alpes he spies, O'ershoots the valley which beneath him lies. 1784 Cowper Task i. 496 While yet the beams Of day-spring overshoot his humble nest. 1887 G. Meredith Ballads & P. 114 She, with the plunging lightnings overshot. |
† 7. intr. To shoot or rush down from above. Obs.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 7620 A thondir with a thicke Rayn..Ouershotyng with shoures thurgh þere shene tenttes. |
† 8. trans. To surpass in shooting. Obs.
| a 1628 F. Grevil Sidney (1652) 85 [Sir Philip] over-shoots his father in-law in his own bow. 1673 O. Heywood Diaries, etc. (1882) I. 357 Who knows but god may overshoot the devil in his oun bow. |
9. refl. To exhaust oneself with too much shooting.
| 1883 Col. Howard in Times 26 July 7/6, I think, perhaps, there was a little conspiracy..to offer us so much practice that we should overshoot ourselves. |
10. trans. To shoot too much over (a moor, etc.) so as to deplete it of game. [over- 27.]
| 1884 Manch. Exam. 1 Aug. 5/3 Disease, together with overshooting by greedy lessees, had played such havoc with the moors. |
Hence overˈshooting vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia v. (1622) 452 To require you, not to haue an ouershooting expectation of mee. 1795 Herschel in Phil. Trans. LXXXV. 392 The point of the angle sinking down between the two teeth..prevents their overshooting. 1897 Daily News 4 Sept. 6/5 The cause of the accident was the overshooting of the points, owing to the driver not pulling up in time. |
▪ II. overshoot, n.
(ˈəʊvəʃuːt)
[f. the vb.]
The action or result of overshoot v.; spec. in Electronics (see quot. 1971).
| 1944 Flight 1 June 584/1 Uncorrected over-shoot generally means a write-off. 1945 Electronic Industries Sept. 214 Overshoot, an excessive potential attained by a portion of the main body of a pulse. 1947 R. Lee Electronic Transformers & Circuits ix. 249 Added to this is a slight oscillation overshoot. 1956 Amos & Birkinshaw Television Engin. II. i. 25 The consequent disturbance of the phase relationships frequently causes the phenomenon of overshoot illustrated in Fig. 11. This is an effect which can be compared with that of inertia in mechanical systems and causes the voltage, after executing the transient, to exceed momentarily the final steady value. 1963 R. P. Dales Annelids viii. 156 They have found that with posterior pieces there is often an ‘overshoot’, the new thoracic region having more segments than it should. 1969 J. J. Sparkes Transistor Switching iv. 113 Overshoot or undershoot of the output waveforms will result. 1970 New Scientist 17 Dec. 515/2 He sees the market economy as a system with high gain and strong feedback, possessing self-regulation, but troubled by overshoots. 1971 Gloss. Electrotechnical, Power Terms (B.S.I.) iii. i. 37 Overshoot, transient exaggeration of the magnitude of the leading or trailing edge of a steep-sided signal. 1977 Gramophone Oct. 744/3 The square wave showed one sharp overshoot and was then well damped. |