overdraw
UK[ˌəʊvəˈdrɔː]US[ˌoʊvərˈdrɔː]
v
To withdraw more money from a bank account than the amount that is available.
v
To exaggerate or overstate in a description or drawing.
Morpheme Breakdown
over
draw
over
above, beyond
draw
to pull
Etymology
The word 'overdraw' is a transparent compound formed from two native English elements. The prefix 'over-' carries its ancient Germanic sense of 'excess' or 'beyond a limit'. The verb 'draw' retains its core Proto-Indo-European meaning of 'to pull' or 'to drag', which in a financial context evolved to mean 'to withdraw' money. The literal combination, 'to pull beyond', perfectly captures the action of taking more funds than are available, extending logically to the figurative sense of exaggeration in depiction. Its formation follows a common Germanic pattern of creating new verbs by adding a modifying prefix to an existing action verb.
Analysis
Structure: over (above, beyond) + draw (to pull)
- over: From Old English ofer, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch over and German über, from an Indo-European root meaning 'over'. It functions as a prefix meaning 'excessively' or 'beyond'.
- draw: From Old English dragan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dragen and German tragen, from an Indo-European root meaning 'to pull, drag'. It functions as the core verb meaning 'to pull' or 'to take'.
Examples
Be careful not to overdraw your checking account, as the fees are high.
The cartoonist would often overdraw the politician's features for comic effect.
The account was frozen after the customer repeatedly tried to overdraw it.