# overwork
## English
### Etymology 1

From Middle English overwerken, possibly from Old English oferwyrċan (“to overwork, overlay”), equivalent to over- +‎ work. Cognate with Dutch overwerken (“to overwork”).

#### Pronunciation

* (UK) enPR: ō'və-wûkʹ, IPA: /ˌəʊvəˈwɜːk/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US) enPR: ō'vər-wûrkʹ, IPA: /ˌoʊvɚˈwɝk/
* Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)k

#### Verb

overwork (third-person singular simple present overworks, present participle overworking, simple past and past participle overworked or (archaic) overwrought)
* (transitive) To make (someone or something) work too hard.
    to overwork a horse
** 1945 November snd December, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 329:For some years locomotives and coaches have been overworked and undermaintained to a degree without precedent in British railway history, and the leeway in maintenance now to be made up is very great.
** 2007 February 18, Jake Mooney, “A Case of the Shivers”, in The New York Times‎:The cracking sound, he explained, as far as I, a non-plumber, could understand, was the sound of the overworked, undermaintained and weirdly installed heating unit’s core rupturing and spilling water into the basement.
** 2019 August 10, Harmeet Kaur, “The most overworked cities in the US might surprise you”, in CNN‎:If you live in Washington D.C., Houston or Atlanta, it might be time to take a vacation. Those three cities, followed by Seattle and Chicago, are the most overworked cities in the United States, according to a study released by the mobile technology company Kisi this past week.
** 2019 September 26, Sandee LaMotte, “Too much exercise could lead to bad decisions on what you eat and buy”, in CNN‎:It turns out that overworking your brain with either physical or mental exercise may lower your ability to delay self-gratification.
** 2021 January 13, Laura He and Nectar Gan, “Pinduoduo under fire as China turns on its tech titans”, in CNN‎:One of China’s most prominent e-commerce companies is facing intense public backlash over allegations that it overworks its employees.
* (intransitive) To work too hard.
* (transitive) To fill too full of work; to crowd with labour.
** 1874, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Aigalades:My days with toil are overwrought.
* (transitive) To decorate all over.

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From Middle English overwerc, from Old English oferweorc, oferġeweorc (“an overwork, superstructure, tomb”), equivalent to over- +‎ work.

#### Pronunciation

* (UK) enPR: ōʹvə-wûk', IPA: /ˈəʊvəˌwɜːk/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US) enPR: ōʹvər-wûrk', IPA: /ˈoʊvɚˌwɝk/

#### Noun

overwork (uncountable)
* A superstructure.
* Excessive work.
** 1878, Phosphorus in functional disorders of the nervous system, induced by overwork and other influences incidental to modern life:Various disordered conditions consequent upon overwork, which are characteristic of modern civilisation.
** 1946 July and August, K. Westcott Jones, “Isle of Wight Central Railway—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 244:[…] it had obtained from its constituents rather antiquated and inefficient equipment, which scarcely stood up to overwork; […] .
** 1996, Wilkie Au, Urgings of the Heart: A Spirituality of Integration:When it comes to overwork, denial looms large.
** 2003, Ernie J Zelinski, Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked:The Japanese term for sudden death from overwork.
** 2018 November 4, Jake Kwon and Alexandra Field, “South Koreans are working themselves to death. Can they get their lives back?”, in CNN‎:In July, the government legislated to reduce the maximum working hours from a staggering 68 per week to 40, with 12 hours of paid overtime, in what President Moon Jae-in said would be an “important opportunity to move away from a society of overwork and move toward a society of spending time with families.”

##### Translations
#### See also

* overtime

### Further reading

* “overwork”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “overwork”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* work over, workover