Etymology From Middle English overmacchen, equivalent to over- + match.
1
To match more than intended.
The regular expression overmatched, capturing the entire paragraph instead of the specific sentence.
2
To be more than equal to or a match for, to surpass; hence, to conquer, vanquish.
And wel his merits ſhew him to be made His Fortunes maiſter, and the king of men. That could perſwade at ſuch a ſodaine pinch, With reaſons of his valour and his life, A thouſand ſworne and ouer-matching foes:c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene i:
At Lemster, for her Wooll whose Staple doth excell, And seemes to over-match the golden Phrygian Fell.1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, song 7 p. 104:
3
To marry (someone) to a superior.
If a yeoman have one sole daughter, he must overmatch her, above her birth and calling, to a gentleman forsooth, because of her great portion […]1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
Etymology From Middle English overmacchen, equivalent to over- + match.
1
A match in which one opponent is greatly superior to the other.
[…] we can increase the velocity of that force, so as to make it an overmatch for its antagonist.1748, David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Oxford ed., ¶13, published 2007:
2
An opponent who is more than a match for another; one who cannot be defeated.
For Memnon […] fought hand to hand with his overmatch, and met his boyish and most dolorous death beneath the walls of Troy.1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities: