MEANING
1. To cancel or reverse an established judgment, rule, or result.
2. To turn something onto its side or upside down.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- overturn a ruling
- overturn a conviction
On the page
The appeal overturned the original ruling.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- overturn
- Past tense
- overturned
- Past participle
- overturned
- Present participle
- overturning
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- overturn
- Present continuous
- am/is/are overturning
- Present perfect
- have/has overturned
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been overturning
- Past
- overturned
- Past continuous
- was/were overturning
- Past perfect
- had overturned
- Past perfect continuous
- had been overturning
- Future
- will overturn
- Future continuous
- will be overturning
- Future perfect
- will have overturned
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been overturning
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: overturn; overturns; overturned; overturned; overturning Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, qualification. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: overturns.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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