Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To declare (a court ruling or other precedent) as superseded and no longer accurate with regard to a legal question.
  • transitive verb To reject or disallow as contrary to rules or law.
  • transitive verb To reject or annul (a decision or recommendation, for example).
  • transitive verb To reject or annul a decision made by (someone).

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To rule against; reject; pronounce to be invalid or untenable; set aside: as, the plea was overruled.
  • To have sway over; exercise rule or controlling influence over; control.
  • To influence or turn in another direction, or to another course of action, by greater authority or power: as, the accident was over-ruled for good.
  • To exercise control; prevail.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To be superior or supreme in rulling or controlling.
  • transitive verb To rule over; to govern or determine by superior authority.
  • transitive verb To rule or determine in a contrary way; to decide against; to abrogate or alter
  • transitive verb (Law) To supersede, reject, annul, or rule against.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To nullify a previous ruling by a higher power.
  • verb transitive, law To dismiss or throw out a protest at a court.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb rule against

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Nothing happened in the match, and in that moment, he called an overrule.

    WalesOnline - Home WalesOnline 2012

  • Should the Court "overrule" McConnell and allow as applied challenges to the electioneering communications, there will be much handwringing an wailing amoung the reform community.

    Fears on Wisconsin Right to Life Matt Johnston 2007

  • If you don’t figure this out, then every new ruling of the Supreme Court must come as a complete surprise to you, because SCOTUS doesn’t take cases on issues which it has already decided (unless it plans to overrule, which is presumably even more surprising to someone with a myopic view of precedent).

    The Volokh Conspiracy » A Quick Response to Randy on the Use of “Unprecedented” 2010

  • If you don’t figure this out, then every new ruling of the Supreme Court must come as a complete surprise to you, because SCOTUS doesn’t take cases on issues which it has already decided unless it plans to overrule, which is presumably even more surprising to someone with a myopic view of precedent.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » A Quick Response to Randy on the Use of “Unprecedented” 2010

  • This promotion would only apply to state emergencies in order that federalized National Guardsmen don't "overrule" Alaskan guardsmen.

    Armchair Generalist 2008

  • Another huge problem remains section 6 (in both of the underlying draft bills), which presumably will "overrule" Rasul, by purporting to strip aliens detained overseas of the right to petition for habeas review, and to drastically limit any further rights of such aliens to seek judicial review of (i) the legality of their detention; (ii) the terms and conditions of their detention and interrogation; and (iii) the proceudres and results of any military commission trial.

    Balkinization 2006

  • If John McCain rather than Barack Obama had replaced David Souter, I am certain that there would be five votes on the Court today to overrule Roe v.

    The Conservative Assault on the Constitution Erwin Chemerinsky 2010

  • Moreover, although Justice Kennedy has been clear that he will not vote to overrule Roe, he has been equally clear that he is willing to join with the four most conservative justices to allow the government to restrict abortion rights short of a complete ban.

    The Conservative Assault on the Constitution Erwin Chemerinsky 2010

  • From every indication, Justice Alito is more likely to agree with the conservative dissenters and to create a majority to overrule this decision, further expanding the scope of sovereign immunity and closing the courthouse doors.

    The Conservative Assault on the Constitution Erwin Chemerinsky 2010

  • Congress cannot overrule a Supreme Court case interpreting the Constitution and Congress cannot tell federal courts what remedies they are allowed to impose.

    The Conservative Assault on the Constitution Erwin Chemerinsky 2010

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