OVERABUNDANCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does overabundance mean? 

• OVERABUNDANCE (noun)
  The noun OVERABUNDANCE has 2 senses:

1. the state of being more than full

2. a quantity that is more than what is appropriate

  Familiarity information: OVERABUNDANCE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OVERABUNDANCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state of being more than full

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

excess; overabundance; surfeit

Hypernyms ("overabundance" is a kind of...):

fullness (the condition of being filled to capacity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A quantity that is more than what is appropriate

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

overabundance; overmuch; overmuchness; superabundance

Context example:

we received an inundation of email

Hypernyms ("overabundance" is a kind of...):

abundance; copiousness; teemingness (the property of a more than adequate quantity or supply)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "overabundance"):

excess; nimiety; surplus; surplusage (a quantity much larger than is needed)

glut; oversupply; surfeit (the quality of being so overabundant that prices fall)

bellyful (an undesirable overabundance)

Derivation:

overabundant (excessively abundant)

 Context examples 

This overabundance of iron then poisons the cell, killing it as the reduced iron becomes oxidized.

(Scientists discover how blue and green clays kill bacteria, NSF)

The overabundance of ROS in human neurons appeared to cause proteins along the microtubules to oxidize, wreaking havoc with the microtubule structure.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

The team studied samples from Martian meteorites and realized that an overabundance of rare metals — such as platinum, osmium and iridium — in the planet's mantle required an explanation.

(Ancient Asteroid Impact Explains Martian Geological Mysteries, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Adapting to an overabundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, trees, plants and grasses constrict their pores to regulate the amount of CO2 they consume, a mechanism that limits the release of water from leaves through evaporation.

(Plant physiology will be major contributor to future river flooding, National Science Foundation)