overtop
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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When meltwaters reach a certain level, they can overtop a glacier that previously held them back.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2025
The reservoir behind the dam rose to within 1 foot of the dam’s maximum storage capacity, prompting warnings that water could overtop the dam and worsen already-dangerous conditions downstream, or damage the dam.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 13, 2023
The deadly weather is foiling evacuation plans and straining the state’s aging infrastructure as strong winds topple power lines and fast rising waters overtop levees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2023
Making matters worse: Communities have been built on those floodplains, so when rivers overtop their banks, the water goes into people’s houses rather than replenishing wetland habitats and slowly sinking into the soil.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 10, 2023
He screeched insults at the bear, which hearing, the bear reared up and seemed to me to overtop Rocinante.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Salt water that overtops the underwater sill is still lower in salinity than the water behind the sill toward the Gulf, Jones said.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 5, 2023
Porterville residents evacuate as Lake Success overtops the Schafer Dam spillway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2023
The ocean regularly overtops dunes and washes out much of Highway 12 — the only road linking Hatteras Island and the rest of Dare County.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 6, 2019
In this drone photo released by Duke Energy, flooding from the swollen Cape Fear River overtops an earthen dike at Sutton Lake, a 1,100-acre lake at the L.V.
From Fox News ● Sep. 21, 2018
This, like Goliath among the Philistines, overtops all the rest.
From History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
After three days of rain, the dam collapsed in May 2020, releasing a torrent that overtopped the downstream Sanford Dam and flooded the city of Midland.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 8, 2023
Dams that are small and located in rural areas may cause less damage if they are overtopped or fail.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 13, 2023
Yet I still hold the downed trees, the homes swept away, the overtopped rivers in my head and in my body.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2023
The Edenville Dam on the Tittabawassee River in central Michigan collapsed May 19, 2020, releasing a torrent that overtopped the downstream Sanford Dam and flooded the city of Midland.
From Seattle Times ● May 4, 2022
But the second wave easily overtopped a flood barrier and swamped all six.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
Large waves are also expected with coastal overtopping.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2025
Rivers and streams could swell, overtopping their banks and flooding the neighborhoods surrounding them.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
But once built, you don’t want water coming through your roof, your siding or your windows — or overtopping your foundation or slab.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 4, 2023
For example, concrete dams can typically better withstand certain levels of overtopping compared to soil embankment dams.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 13, 2023
He halted and, with bewildered and horrified eyes, stared round him at the khaki mob, in the midst of which, overtopping it by a full head, he stood.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
Vocabulary lists containing overtop
