overload
overload Lexical Profile
overload Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An excessive load, burden, or amount of something, such as work, information, or sensory input.
"Constant notifications from smartphones and computers often result in cognitive overload."
An excessive electric current or power demand placed on a circuit, device, or electrical grid.
"The circuit breaker tripped automatically to prevent a dangerous electrical overload."
• verb
To load with too great a burden or cargo; to fill or pack beyond safe or normal capacity.
"Be careful not to overload the washing machine, or the clothes will not get properly clean."
To give an excessive amount of work, responsibility, or information to someone or something.
"The instructor tried not to overload the new trainees with technical jargon on their first day."
To subject an electrical circuit, device, or computer network to an excessive current or demand.
"Plugged into the same outlet, the space heater and the microwave will quickly overload the circuit."
To define multiple functions or operators with the same name that execute different behaviors depending on the data types of their arguments (in computer programming).
"In object-oriented programming, developers can overload an operator so that it handles custom data structures."
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in the early 16th century as a compound of the prefix 'over-' (from Old English 'ofer', meaning 'beyond' or 'excessively') and 'load' (from Old English 'lad', originally meaning 'way', 'course', or 'carrying').