How to Use overdrive in a Sentence

overdrive

noun
  • He put the car into overdrive.
  • The reporters went into overdrive to finish their stories on time.
  • His acting career is in overdrive.
  • Your sweet tooth tends to kick into overdrive this time of year.
    — CBS News, 15 Dec. 2025
  • His game went into overdrive in mid-May.
    — Chuck Murr, Forbes.com, 30 May 2026
  • This was enough to start the rumor mill and send it into overdrive.
    — Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024
  • Now that summer is in full swing, my daily step count is in overdrive.
    — Jennifer Chan, Travel + Leisure, 1 July 2024
  • Here are some species that go into overdrive when the leaves begin to fall.
    — Liz Langley, National Geographic, 27 Sep. 2019
  • Your mind kicks into overdrive.
    — Usa Today, USA Today, 23 May 2026
  • But that sense of self-worth in overdrive also kicks her life into gear.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 20 Apr. 2018
  • But nearly five months in, the trend has slammed into overdrive.
    — Phil Matier, SFChronicle.com, 9 Aug. 2020
  • And, when the mother has laid her eggs, these glands go into overdrive.
    — Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 19 May 2022
  • Slather on oily products, and greasy zones will go into overdrive.
    — Nicole Catanese, Marie Claire, 20 Sep. 2019
  • That funk has gone into overdrive in this series.
    — Josh Yohe, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2026
  • But with their backs up against the wall once again, the offense clicked into overdrive.
    — Andrew Tredinnick, USA TODAY, 6 May 2022
  • But her brain’s safety mode went into overdrive.
    — Charlotte Harpur, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2026
  • The body then goes into overdrive to replace the dead and dying skin.
    — Richard Faulk, chicagotribune.com, 5 Sep. 2019
  • Not to mention that her libido is in overdrive during this time.
    — Anonymous As Told To Sophie Saint Thomas, Marie Claire, 19 Sep. 2016
  • Homebuilders in that region got pushed into overdrive over the past two years.
    — Lance Lambert, Fortune, 5 June 2022
  • Heat can cause the oil-producing glands in your scalp to kick into overdrive.
    — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 20 May 2026
  • So prices may rise just as much as pay, sending the wage-price spiral into overdrive.
    — Daniel Altman, Forbes, 11 July 2022
  • Then Floyd's video emerged, and her plan to move shifted into overdrive.
    — Faith Karimi, CNN, 4 Aug. 2020
  • Mice with this neural overdrive displayed traits often linked to autism.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 1 Sep. 2025
  • Then there's the flood of deals that have forced Wall Street bankers into overdrive.
    — Julia Horowitz, CNN, 14 Apr. 2021
  • Our brains were going into overdrive.
    — Lexi Lane, PEOPLE, 16 May 2026
  • In mere seconds, Massey’s brain went into overdrive.
    — Kansas City Star, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The game fired into overdrive from the off, as Spurs launched a long ball assault straight from kick off.
    — SI.com, 31 Jan. 2018
  • The decision not to halt the Texas law sent those fears into overdrive.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 7 Oct. 2021
  • But the crisis in Ukraine sent bets on the dollar into overdrive.
    — Caitlin McCabe, WSJ, 6 Mar. 2022
  • But over the past 10 days in Asia, the dial has spun into overdrive.
    — Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2025

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

Last Updated: