Definition of "overshoot"

overshoot

/ˈoʊ.vɚˌshut/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural overshoots
1. (countable) The amount by which something goes too far.
2. (countable, ecology) When the population of a species exceeds its environment's carrying capacity.
  Quotations
  With appropriate choice and action such uncontrolled decline could be avoided; overshoot could instead be resolved by a conscious effort to reduce humanity's demand on the planet.
  2004, Donella Meadows, Jorgen Randers, Dennis Meadows, “Author's preface”, in Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update
  Population overshoot is therefore unlikely to yield to management. Rather, the usual suspects will enter the scene and do their thing: starvation, disease, […] violence […] [and] death […] .
  2012, James Howard Kunstler, “Where We're at”, in Too Much Magic
  Our core ecological problem is not climate change. It is overshoot, of which global warming is a symptom.
  2017 August 14, Richard Heinberg, “Systemic Change Driven by Moral Awakening Is Our Only Hope”, in Ecowatch‎
3. (uncountable, typography, design) The portion of a letter extending above the capline of other letters of the same font, or the relative degree of such extent.
  Quotations
  The portion resting beyond the capline or baseline is called overshoot.
  2019, Reece Patton, Formatting for Print‎
  The bowl of the D and the O are usually not identical, as most D forms do not have overshoot or undershoot.
  2020, Karen Cheng, Designing Type, 2nd edition, page 88
verb
third-person singular simple present overshoots, present participle overshooting, simple past and past participle overshot
1. To go past something; to go too far.
  Quotations
  As a result of the accident at Southend Airport when a Hermes aircraft overshot the runway and fouled the down Shenfield to Southend Victoria line between Rochford and Prittlewell, the Eastern Region is considering warning arrangements, which have already been provided on some lines running past aerodromes.
  1961 November, “Talking of Trains: Aircraft on rail tracks”, in Trains Illustrated, page 650
  A ScotRail Driver: […] A good friend of mine overshot two stations back-to-back a couple of years ago. He tried to stop at one station and slid by it. Tried to stop at the next station. He slid by that, too.
  2021 December 15, Paul Clifton, “There is nothing you can do”, in RAIL, number 946, page 37
2. To shoot beyond; to shoot too far to hit something.
  Quotations
  not to overshoot his game
  1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727
3. To pass swiftly over; to fly beyond.
4. (figurative) To exceed.
  Quotations
  That fire abated that impells rash youth,Proud of his speed to overshoot the truth,
  1782, William Cowper, “Conversation”, in Poems: by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq.
  Measured this way humanity was last at sustainable levels in the 1980s. Now it has overshot by some 20 percent.
  2004, Donella Meadows, Jorgen Randers, Dennis Meadows, “Author's preface”, in Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update
  The amount a letter overshoots is based on the design, but your eye shouldn’t notice it.
  2019, Reece Patton, Formatting for Print‎
5. (reflexive) To venture too far; to overreach (oneself).

Definition of "overshoot"

overshoot

noun

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verb

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