overwrite

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to replace existing data by writing new data over it

   Be careful not to overwrite the backup file.

2. 2
   verb

   to write in an unnecessarily long, ornate, or complicated way

   The novelist tended to overwrite emotional scenes.

3. 3
   noun

   an operation that writes new data over old data

   The secure erase tool performs several overwrites.

From over- + write. In computing, the spatial image is direct: new data is written over old data.

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