How to Use overboard in a Sentence

overboard

adverb
  • He threw the fish overboard.
  • The boy fell overboard and almost drowned.
  • One of the sailors fell into the water, and someone shouted “Man overboard!”.
  • Crews don’t dump these crabs overboard, but slide them in the sea.
    Tim Prudente, baltimoresun.com, 31 Dec. 2020
  • But the key is not to go overboard—just keep it simple.
    Stefanie Waldek, House Beautiful, 28 June 2023
  • The 34 people who were killed didn't have a chance to jump overboard.
    Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY, 3 May 2024
  • There's no need to go overboard with the fear factor though.
    Charlyne Mattox, Country Living, 15 Sep. 2022
  • For a new boyfriend or girlfriend and don’t want to go overboard?
    Alexis Bennett, Vogue, 5 Dec. 2021
  • Telesco said the onus doesn’t fall on him to go overboard, though.
    Conor Orr, SI.com, 18 Apr. 2018
  • The crew races to refill the bait boxes and shove the pot overboard before the boat reaches the next buoy.
    Julia Rosen, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Mar. 2022
  • Either way, this is a poor day to go overboard in any way.
    Georgia Nicols, The Denver Post, 6 Mar. 2025
  • At the same time, don’t go overboard on the cleanliness.
    Korin Miller, SELF, 28 Mar. 2018
  • Both had to be tied down to keep them from jumping overboard.
    Shola Lawal, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Jan. 2021
  • While on the lake, the boat owner saw West drop two buckets and a large tote bag overboard.
    Paul Walsh, Star Tribune, 19 July 2021
  • Nearly 10% of the bulls died, their corpses thrown overboard or left to fester in the pens among the living.
    Kevin Varley, Fortune, 8 July 2021
  • So, don't go overboard and get rid of them all; maybe just use fewer.
    Contributing Writer, NOLA.com, 26 Mar. 2018
  • The wake caused nine of the 12 occupants, including the girl, to go overboard.
    Grace Hauck, USA TODAY, 31 July 2023
  • Don’t go overboard In a small space, less is always more.
    Michelle Higgins, The Seattle Times, 25 Sep. 2018
  • The heat often comes from the exhaust air from the cabin as it is sent overboard.
    John Cox, USA TODAY, 15 Aug. 2019
  • Don’t throw your investment plan overboard in the middle of the storm.
    Larry Edelman, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Oct. 2022
  • Victims were not killed by walking the plank, but were shot and tossed overboard.
    Jamie Kitman, Car and Driver, 1 Apr. 2023
  • The right approach here is to offer deals that don’t go overboard.
    Peter Fader, Quartz, 25 Nov. 2019
  • People can go overboard at this stage but that is all right.
    Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, 25 Apr. 2018
  • Gold is the accent hue of the moment, but there is such a thing as going overboard.
    Marissa Miller, USA TODAY, 31 Aug. 2020
  • The others jumped overboard to what was most likely their deaths.
    Justin Phillips, SFChronicle.com, 8 Oct. 2020
  • Some threw their babies overboard to spare them what lay ahead.
    USA Today, 22 Aug. 2019
  • But what of Lucius, whom Blackbeard tossed overboard in a fit of rage?
    Lisa Rosen, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2022
  • This sauce has a punchy balance of spice and tang without going overboard on the salt.
    Paul Stephen, San Antonio Express-News, 26 Jan. 2022
  • But falling overboard is at the top of that list for resulting in deaths.
    D'arcy Egan, cleveland, 22 Sep. 2022
  • Paddington and others are thrown overboard while in the Amazon.
    Lynnette Nicholas, Parents, 12 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overboard.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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