OVERREACH

outwit, overreach, outsmart, outfox, beat, circumvent

(verb) beat through cleverness and wit; “I beat the traffic”; “She outfoxed her competitors”

overreach

(verb) fail by aiming too high or trying too hard

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

overreach (third-person singular simple present overreaches, present participle overreaching, simple past and past participle overreached)

(ambitransitive) To reach above or beyond, especially to an excessive degree. [from 14th c.]

Synonym: Thesaurus:transcend

(transitive, property law) To defeat or override a person's interest in property; (Britain, specifically) of a holder of the legal title of real property: by mortgaging or selling the legal title to a third party, to cause another person's equitable right in the property to be dissolved and to be replaced by an equitable right in the money received from the third party.

(ambitransitive, figuratively) To do something beyond an appropriate limit, or beyond one's ability.

(ambitransitive, reflexive, equestrianism) Of a horse: to strike the heel of a forefoot with the toe of a hindfoot. [from 16th c.]

(ambitransitive, now, rare) To deceive, to swindle.

Synonyms: cheat, defraud, Thesaurus:deceive

(intransitive, nautical) To sail on one tack farther than is necessary.

(transitive, archaic) To get the better of, especially by artifice or cunning; to outwit. [from 16th c.]

Noun

overreach (countable and uncountable, plural overreaches)

(also, figuratively) An act of extending or reaching over, especially if too far or much; overextension.

(equestrianism) Of a horse: an act of striking the heel of a forefoot with the toe of a hindfoot; an injury caused by this action.

Source: Wiktionary

O`ver*reach", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Overreached, (Overraught (, obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Overreaching.]

1. To reach above or beyond in any direction.

2. To deceive, or get the better of, by artifice or cunning; to outwit; to cheat. Shak.

O`ver*reach", v. i.

1. To reach too far; as: (a) To strike the toe of the hind foot against the heel or shoe of the forefoot; -- said of horses. (b) (Naut.) To sail on one tack farther than is necessary. Shak.

2. To cheat by cunning or deception.

O"ver*reach`, n.

Definition: The act of striking the heel of the fore foot with the toe of the hind foot; -- said of horses.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition