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overstand

verb, noun — 6 senses

overstand

verb

Etymology From Middle English overstonden, from Old English oferstandan (“to stand over”), equivalent to over- + stand. Cognate with Dutch overstaan (“to stand over”), German überstehen (“to stand through, survive”).

1

Rare To stand or insist too much or too long; overstay.

  • But they that overstand the day of grace, shall not obtain to cool their tongues so much of this water as will hang on the tip of one's finger.1688, Bunyan, The Water of Life:
2

To stand too strictly on the demands or conditions of.

3

To sail (to the mark) at a wider angle than is the normal upwind angle; to go beyond (the layline).

Yachting; boat racing; yachting; boat racing

4

Business, Forestry Of a coppice To be neglected and left uncut for too long.

  • When a coppice woodland is no longer cut on its regular rotation the rods from the stool continue to grow and the coppice becomes known as overstood. Sadly, in many parts of the country this is the commonest form of coppice you are likely to see.2001, Ben Law, The Woodland Way: a permaculture approach to sustainable woodland management, Hyden House, →ISBN:

overstand

noun

Etymology From Middle English overstonden, from Old English oferstandan (“to stand over”), equivalent to over- + stand. Cognate with Dutch overstaan (“to stand over”), German überstehen (“to stand through, survive”).

1

The measurement between the top plate and the fingerboard where the neck meets the body of the instrument.

overstand

verb

Etymology Blend of over + understand, coined in Rastafarianism before 1965.

1

To have complete or intuitive comprehension of; to understand fully.

US black subculture

  • "But, Sister, it look like you neither overstand or understand"1965, Orlando Patterson, The children of Sisyphus: A novel, page 192:
  • "I need you to overstand this the way I overstand this. Notice how I didn't say understand, because I need you to more than understand—I need you to overstand."2016, Khaled Mohamed Khaled, The Keys:
Related terms
innerstanding

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.