oversubscribe

The charity event was oversubscribed with generous donations.

Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To subscribe for more than is available: "oversubscribe" means to apply for or accept more subscriptions for something (such as shares, tickets, or places) than are actually available.
   • To have more demand than supply: When an offering, event, or service receives more applications or requests than the number of positions or items offered.

Usage Examples

Advanced Usage

• "to be heavily oversubscribed": to have an extremely high level of demand relative to supply.

  • The new housing development was heavily oversubscribed, with over 10,000 applications for just 200 homes.

• "oversubscribed issue": a financial term referring to a bond or share issue where the number of orders exceeds the amount offered.

  • The government bond issue was oversubscribed, indicating strong investor confidence.

Variants and Related Words

• Oversubscription (noun): the state or condition of being oversubscribed.

  • The oversubscription of the event forced the organizers to find a larger venue.

• Oversubscribe (verb): the base form (as defined above).

• Undersubscribe (antonym): to receive fewer subscriptions than available.

  • The new magazine was undersubscribed, so it was cancelled.

Synonyms

• Overbooked: having more reservations or applications than available capacity.
• Overdemanded: in high demand exceeding supply.
• Overapplied: having more applications than positions.

Related Idioms

• More demand than supply: a general phrase describing a situation where the number of requests exceeds the number of available items.

  • The limited-edition sneakers had more demand than supply, making them oversubscribed.

• Sell out: to have all available items purchased or reserved.

  • The concert sold out within hours, meaning it was oversubscribed.