Overcram

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Packing something so full that it becomes uncomfortably crowded or beyond its reasonable capacity
2. Stuffing a space, container or schedule with far more than it can comfortably hold
3. Filling a place or thing to excess until it is overloaded and no longer practical to use

Etymology: "Overcram" is a plain compound: the prefix "over-", meaning excessively or beyond what is proper, joined to "cram", which goes back to Old English "crammian", meaning to stuff or fill full. Put together, the verb describes packing something beyond its capacity, so that a room, a schedule, or a suitcase holds more than it reasonably should. The pattern is an old English one. "Over-" has been attached to ordinary verbs for centuries to signal excess, producing words like "overeat" and "overwork," and "overcram" follows the same model. Because both parts are common and transparent, the word needs little explanation: a reader can work out its sense from the two halves alone.

Synonyms: cram, overfill, overstuff, pack, stuff

Antonyms: empty, unload, clear, vacate, underfill