What is the difference between infest and overrun?
infest | overrun |
To inhabit a place in unpleasantly large numbers
(pathology, of a parasite) To invade a host plant or animal
To defeat an enemy and invade in great numbers, seizing his positions conclusively.
To infest, swarm over, flow over.
* Spenser
* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times
, passage=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 run past; to run beyond.
* Bible, 2. Sam. xviii. 23
To continue for too long.
(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.
To abuse or oppress, as if by treading upon.
* Spenser
An instance of overrunning
* 2013 June 18, , "
The amount by which something overruns
As verbs the difference between infest and overrun
is that infest is to inhabit a place in unpleasantly large numbers while overrun is to defeat an enemy and invade in great numbers, seizing his positions conclusively.As a adjective infest
is (obsolete) mischievous; hurtful; harassing.As a noun overrun is
an instance of overrunning.infest
English
Verb
(en verb)- Insects are infesting my basement!
Synonyms
*Anagrams
* *overrun
English
Verb
(transitive)- The vine overran''' its trellis; the field is '''overrun with weeds.
- those barbarous nations that overran the world
citation
- The athlete overran the finish line and kept going.
- One line overruns another in length.
- Ahimaaz run by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.
- The performance overran by ten minutes, which caused some people to miss their bus home.
- In machinery, a sliding piece is said to overrun its bearing when its forward end goes beyond it.
- None of them the feeble overran .
Noun
(en noun)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.
- ''At least this year's overrun isn't as unmanageable as last year!