overspecify

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈspɛsɪˌfaɪ/

Verb

overspecify (third-person singular simple present overspecifies, present participle overspecifying, simple past and past participle overspecified)

To specify in excessive detail.
The customer overspecified the requirements and now we're contractually required to build it this way. Does he think he's an engineer?
- 1949, “Sponge Rubber”, in Walter E. Burton, editor, Engineering with Rubber, 1st edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, page 389:
  Manufacturers of sponge-rubber products have noted a tendency for designers and other users to overspecify.
- 1975, John Whittet, “We Need NEOCS”, in All Hands, number 698, page 50:
  First, the study group discovered a tendency in the current system to overspecify a billet. For example, to write a billet for a laboratory technician, one could specify rate and rating, as an HM1, one could specify E-6 and NEC-8506, or one could specify both. Obviously, this sort of procedure creates distribution problems which could compound.
To specify excessive capability.
As usual the customer overspecified the requirements, it's like asking for a car that seats 20 and fits in a compact car's parking space.
- 1991 April 1, Gene P. Carlson, “NFPA 1903: Mobile Water Supply Apparatus”, in Fire Engineering‎^[1]:
  Design your mobile water supply apparatus around the chassis that you intend to use. Don’t overspecify or underspecify the unit.
To provide redundant or inconsistent information.
An overspecified truth table contains at least one decision that will never be executed because it is already specified in a previous decision...

A noun phrase is overspecified when it is used in a context where a pronoun would have been unambiguous.

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “specify in excessive detail”): underspecify

Related terms

overspecification