Is it "Overunning", "Over-running" or "Over running"? I've tried various dictionaries and get differing answers.
2006-09-17 22:13:11 · 8 answers · asked by frontera2 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
"Overrunning" is correct.
From the Compact Oxford Dictionary:
overrun
• verb (overrunning; past overran; past part. overrun) 1 spread over or occupy in large numbers. 2 move or extend over or beyond. 3 exceed (an expected or allowed time or cost)
2006-09-17 22:31:24 · answer #1 · answered by Little Girl Blue 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Over Running
2006-09-17 22:16:07 · answer #2 · answered by Lori B 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I've studied linguistics and learned that there are no conventions in the English language. So, whichever way: over running, over-running or overrunning is acceptable. However, at present people tend to write compounds as if they were a single word.
2006-09-18 04:53:38 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you mean one country conquered another, it is "overrun", as in "Germany overran Poland in 1939". If you mean that there is too much water for the bowl, it is "run over", as in "The water ran over the side".
2006-09-18 00:04:07 · answer #4 · answered by Taivo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The modern answer is overrunning, as compound words are now merged to make one word. Until recently you would have hyphenated it, as over-running.
2006-09-17 22:21:57 · answer #5 · answered by aliantha2004 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
that's because it can be any of those. AP Stylebook, considered the authority when in dispute, prefers closed spellings for compounds like this.
SO, AP says go with overrunning
2006-09-17 22:17:12 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
To say that something is "Over running" in any form would not be best grammar. It would be better to say something has over run, something will over run, or something is running over.
2006-09-17 22:19:46 · answer #7 · answered by Joyous 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
late
2006-09-17 22:16:30 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋