overrake means to rake over, or sweep across, from end to end, as waves break over a vessel anchored with its head to the sea. It carries an Arena rating of 1527, earned across 15 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, overrake ranks #82 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #1,433 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #1,672 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #2,662 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
Why “overrake” is a great word
OVERRAKE — [Verb] To sweep over or break across from end to end, as heavy seas over an anchored vessel, or to rake with gunfire. From the English prefix over- ("above, across") + the verb rake ("to sweep, scour"). First recorded in 1590–1600. Unlike "inundate" (which suggests a formless flooding) or "rake" (which implies a sweep but not its comprehensive scope), "overrake" is defined by its totality of passage. It is the green wall of a wave consuming a deck from bow to stern, the methodical stutter of gunfire walking a trench line, or the wind scouring clean the length of a barren plateau—a force that measures destruction by the thoroughness of its lateral sweep.
Etymology
From over- + rake.
verb
- To rake over, or sweep across, from end to end, as waves break over a vessel anchored with its head to the sea.
- To rake over or assault, as enemy gunfire attacking the entire force.
- To rake or scrape to excess.e.g.“Of his depth of feeling, his exquisite sensibility, and his poetic fire (which burned the more vigorously, perhaps, for not being overraked with a classical poker) , this is not the place to treat.” — 1903, Samuel Lover, The Collected Writings of Samuel Lover: Poetical works:
- To rake or scrape over.e.g.“Better methods are happily coming into use, and it is already being found profitable to overrake the spoil-hillocks of our ancestors.” — 1901 March, John Hyde, “Fairfield: A Peakland Township”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, volume 290, number 2043, page 238:
- To install with too great a slope or angle.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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