override
override Lexical Profile
override Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To use one's authority to reject, cancel, or set aside a decision, rule, or restriction.
"Congress voted to override the president's veto and enact the bipartisan bill into law."
To interrupt the action of an automatic device or software program in order to take manual or custom control.
"The pilot had to override the autopilot when unexpected turbulence hit the aircraft."
To be more important than or take precedence over another consideration or feeling.
"Public safety concerns must override short-term financial interests during an emergency."
To overlap or slide past another part (especially of fractured bone fragments or geological strata).
"The X-ray revealed that the two ends of the fractured femur had begun to override each other."
• noun
A cancellation or reversal of a decision, rule, or automatic process through the exercise of higher authority.
"The legislature lacked the two-thirds majority required for a veto override."
A device, control, or command that allows a human operator to take manual control of an automated system.
"The engineer activated the manual override when the automated cooling valve failed to open."
A commission paid to a manager or supervisor based on the sales made by their subordinates, or a royalty paid above a set threshold.
"The regional sales director receives a two percent override on all contracts closed by her team."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'override' (to use authority to cancel a decision or bypass an automatic system) with 'overwrite' (to replace existing computer data by writing new data in the same storage space).
• Rhymes for override
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English oferridan, meaning 'to ride across' or 'trample down on horseback.' The figurative sense of setting aside or superseding someone's authority emerged in the 19th century.