to overload
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to overload
To burden something or someone with too much weight, work, or demands so that the capacity limit is exceeded. This can apply to physical structures, technical systems, or people.
Wenn du so viele schwere Kisten auf einmal trägst, überlastest du deinen Rücken.
If you carry so many heavy boxes at once, you'll overload your back.
to overload
To push a technical system, such as a power grid or server, to its performance limit through excessive demand or too much data, which can lead to outages.
Am Tag des Ticketverkaufs war die Webseite des Veranstalters komplett überlastet.
On the day of the ticket sale, the organizer's website was completely overloaded.
'Überlasten' (to overload) is an inseparable verb. The prefix 'über-' remains firmly attached to the verb in all sentence forms and is not placed at the end of the sentence.
Du überlastest den Motor, wenn du so schnell fährst.
You overload the engine if you drive that fast.
The word is made up of 'über-' (too much) and 'lasten' (to be a burden, to weigh). The meaning 'etwas oder jemanden mit zu viel Last belasten' (to burden something or someone with too much load) can therefore be directly derived from its parts.
Überlaste den Tisch nicht, er ist nicht sehr stabil.
Don't overload the table; it's not very stable.
In technical contexts, 'überlasten' (to overload) is very often used in the passive to describe the state of a system. Typical phrases are 'das Netz ist überlastet' (the network is overloaded) or 'der Server war überlastet' (the server was overloaded).
Wegen der vielen Anrufe ist das Telefonnetz komplett überlastet.
Because of the many calls, the telephone network is completely overloaded.
to overwhelm
Überfordern and überlasten can both express the exceeding of a performance limit. Überfordern emphasizes that the demands are too high for a person's abilities. Überlasten focuses more on the excessive amount of work or strain that exceeds a capacity limit.
Die vielen gleichzeitig eingehenden Anfragen überlasten das kleine Team.
The many inquiries arriving at the same time overload the small team.
Die schwierigen Fachfragen überfordern das unerfahrene Team.
The difficult technical questions overwhelm the inexperienced team.
