To defeat an enemy and invade in great numbers, seizing his positions conclusively.
To infest, swarm over, flow over.The vine overran its trellis; the field is overrun with weeds.
Spenserthose barbarous nations that overran the world
2012, November 7, Matt Bai, Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, As President Obama turns his attention once again to filling out a cabinet and writing an Inaugural Address, this much is clear: he should not expect to bask in a surge of national unity, or to witness a crowd of millions overrun the Mall just to say they were there.
To runpast; to run beyond.The athlete overran the finish line and kept going.One line overruns another in length.
Bible, 2. Sam. xviii. 23Ahimaaz run by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.
To continue for too long.The performance overran by ten minutes, which caused some people to miss their bus home.
(printing) To carry (some type, a line or column, etc.) backward or forward into an adjacent line or page.
To go beyond; to extend in part beyond.In machinery, a sliding piece is said to overrun its bearing when its forward end goes beyond it.
2013 June 18, Simon Romero, "Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders," New York Times (retrieved 21 June 2013)Some of the stadiums being built for the World Cup soccer tournament, scheduled for next year, have also been criticized for delays and cost overruns, and have become subjects of derision as protesters question whether they will become white elephants.
The amount by which something overruns''At least this year's overrun isn't as unmanagable as last year!
