From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishoverstep the limits/bounds/boundariesoverstep the limits/bounds/boundariesRUDE/IMPOLITEDISOBEYto do something that is not acceptable or allowed He has overstepped the bounds of acceptable behaviour. → overstep
Examples from the Corpus
overstep the limits/bounds/boundaries• A military commander may overstep the bounds of constitutionality, and it is an incident.• Does Dickens, for example, overstep the limits of grammar in beginning Bleak House with a series of sentences without main verbs?• But there was a period in his life at which his suspicion and hostility to others overstepped the bounds of sanity.• Individuals are required to perform their job to the full, but not to overstep the boundaries of their authority. 