How to Use overtake in a Sentence

overtake

verb
  • She overtook the other runners and went on to win the race.
  • Seasickness can overtake passengers when the ship encounters a storm.
  • Alex Palou overtakes Christian Lundgaard at the end of the first lap.
    — Scott Horner, The Indianapolis Star, 13 May 2023
  • That’s not to say that Jones can’t overtake Newton for the job.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 7 Aug. 2021
  • His friend skied down first and watched as the avalanche was triggered and overtook Burks.
    — CBS News, 12 Mar. 2024
  • There seems to be no one who can overtake my jokes yet.
    — Alyssa Bailey, ELLE, 12 Jan. 2022
  • The jet stream dip may overtake Britain and Ireland much of next week.
    — Arkansas Online, 12 Apr. 2025
  • Alex Palou overtakes Christian Lundgaard for the lead on Lap 42.
    — Scott Horner, The Indianapolis Star, 13 May 2023
  • The city of Houston will let cyclists overtake the road to the rodeo this weekend.
    — Jay R. Jordan, Chron, 3 Mar. 2022
  • The Swede dropped four spots while his teammate jumped up three to overtake him.
    — Nathan Brown, The Indianapolis Star, 16 May 2021
  • Farms are likely to overtake more of the world’s polar regions in the years to come.
    — Yasmin Tayag, The New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2022
  • What made the alt tour feel special, though, has little to do with whether the black dot would overtake the pink.
    — Joshua Hunt, New York Times, 14 July 2021
  • In the race for the title of the planet with the most moons, Saturn may have overtaken Jupiter for the final time.
    — Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 May 2023
  • If war costs overtake costs of peace Beliefs in the costs of war and the costs of peace also matter.
    — Andrew Blum, The Conversation, 24 Feb. 2023
  • When East-West follow, South unblocks his ace of spades, overtakes the jack of clubs with the ace and leads the queen of spades.
    — Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 9 Mar. 2024
  • Mason is bidding to overtake Mitchell for the No. 2 role.
    — Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2024
  • No one suggests that the oil and gas sector will overtake Big Tech.
    — Dan Eberhart, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2023
  • In fact, Glassdoor projects Gen Z will overtake boomers in the full-time workforce next year.
    — Alicia Adamczyk, Fortune, 14 Dec. 2023
  • The Patriots are among the four 7-8 teams trying to overtake the Dolphins.
    — Mark Inabinett | [email protected], al, 28 Dec. 2022
  • Last year, China overtook Japan for the first time to become the world’s largest car exporter.
    — River Akira Davis, New York Times, 18 Dec. 2024
  • Words stumble out in a rush, each eager to overtake the one before it.
    — David Peisner, Rolling Stone, 23 Dec. 2022
  • There is no one guy that is destined to overtake another for a spot on the field.
    — Jules Posner, Forbes, 8 June 2021
  • If both play and Curry was to score only 20 points, Beal would still need 42 to overtake him.
    — Tim Reynolds, ajc, 15 May 2021
  • There were times when his constant needs overtook my life.
    — R. Eric Thomas, The Mercury News, 13 Dec. 2024
  • Roots overtake tombs as if reclaiming them for the earth.
    — New York Times, 18 Feb. 2022
  • Thanks in part to the surge in EV sales, China overtook Japan as the world’s top auto exporter in the first quarter of this year.
    — Janis MacKey Frayer, NBC News, 18 July 2023
  • The bouts at the Kokugikan, the country’s premier sumo venue, were among the last chances for the Americans to overtake China in the race to claim to the most gold medals.
    — Ken Belson, New York Times, 8 Aug. 2021
  • But late in the race, Senna tried to overtake the Frenchman by going up the inside of a corner.
    — Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 10 Dec. 2021
  • The country’s population, now the world’s biggest after overtaking China’s, will be an engine of growth for its economy, according to Shilling.
    — Amala Balakrishner, CNBC, 8 May 2025
  • Our first pilgrimage along it, heading to the Maundy Thursday service, we were overtaken by an elderly priest who flew by on an electric wheelchair through the pink haze of the evening, his cassock billowing out behind him.
    — Lamorna Ash, The Dial, 6 May 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overtake.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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