full to overflowing

full to overflowing (not comparable)

1. absolutely full.

   The train was full to overflowing, and the doors would barely shut.

   • 1962 August, G. Freeman Allen, “Traffic control on the Great Northern Line”, in Modern Railways, page 129:

     It is no use gaily arranging for large hauls of coal to converge on a Scunthorpe steelworks if the latter's sidings are already full to overflowing, and many sizeable traders are therefore advised each morning of traffic that is in the railway pipeline for them, to ascertain if they are able to receive it.

• “full to overflowing”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.