1. to accept more reservations or bookings than there is capacity for
Usage: business; travel industry

Examples

• The airline overbooked the flight by twenty passengers.
• Hotels often overbook during peak season to account for cancellations.
• The restaurant overbooked reservations and had to turn away customers.
• We were bumped from our flight because they overbooked it.
• The conference center overbooked the event space.
• Airlines overbook flights expecting some passengers won’t show up.