† overlaunchv.
Obsolete.
1.
a. transitive. To go beyond (a particular point); to spring up above.
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c1460 My Fayr Lady in J. O. Halliwell Select. Minor Poems J. Lydgate (1840) 203 (MED) This flowyr..the flood wyl ovir launche, That no man may wade, it is so kene.
b. transitive. Shipbuilding. To run (a butt of a plank, etc.) to a certain distance beyond the butt of an adjacent plank, etc.; to create a shift between (planks, etc.). Also of the butts of planks: to overlap (each other) in this way.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > build a ship [verb (transitive)] > dispose or adjust planks
shift1682
overlaunch1711
1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 47 A Ship's Bottom..wherein are shewed the Shifting, Scarfing or Over-launching the Planks.
1805 Shipwright's Vade-mecum 131 Shift, a term applied to disposing the butts of the planks, &c. so that they may over launch each other without reducing the length.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 135 To over-launch, to run the butt of one plank to a certain distance beyond the next butt above or beneath it, in order to make stronger work.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 147 Disposing the butts of the planks, &c. so that they may over-launch each other.
2. intransitive. To go to excess, act extravagantly.
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the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > lack of moderation or restraint > act immoderately or without restraint [verb (intransitive)]
overdoa1325
outragea1387
surfeitc1400
outraya1450
exceed1488
lasha1560
overlash1579
overlaunch1579
wanton1631
extravagate1829
wallow1876
to hit the high spots1891
to go overboard1931
the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > excessive amount or degree > be excessive [verb (intransitive)]
overdoa1325
exceed1488
to pass, be above or beyond, God's forbodec1540
overreacha1568
overlaunch1579
overact1611
overboil1611
to overstep the mark (also line)1827
to cut it too fat1836
to break bounds1856
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 1007/1 One that ouer~launcheth so farre to withstand God.
Derivatives
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1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 162 Overlaunching; splicing or scarfing one Piece of Timber to another, to make firm Work.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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