Definition of "overstrung" []

• Too sensitive, nervous, or tense. (adjective)
• Too tightly strung: an overstrung archery bow. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In case such an instrument has "overstrung" wires, it can be restored to a tone that is better than that of the usual upright piano."
• "Ill-fed, suffering from innutrition and the evil effects of overcrowding and squalor, their constitutions develop a morbid craving for the drink, just as the sickly stomach of the overstrung Manchester factory operative hankers after excessive quantities of pickles and similar weird foods."
• "My overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran -- ran as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the skirt of my dress."