overhang

[ verb oh-ver-hang; noun oh-ver-hang ]

verb (used with object)

, o·ver·hung, o·ver·hang·ing.

1. to hang or be suspended over:

   A great chandelier overhung the ballroom.

2. to extend, project, or jut over:

   A wide balcony overhangs the garden.

3. to impend over or threaten, as danger or evil; loom over:

   The threat of war overhung Europe.

4. to spread throughout; permeate; pervade:

   the melancholy that overhung the proceedings.

5. Informal. to hover over, as a threat or menace:

   Unemployment continues to overhang the economic recovery.

verb (used without object)

, o·ver·hung, o·ver·hang·ing.

1. to hang over; project or jut out over something below:

   How far does the balcony overhang?

noun

1. something that extends or juts out over; projection.
2. the extent of projection, as of the bow of a ship.
3. Informal. an excess or surplus:

   an overhang of office space in midtown.

4. a threat or menace:

   to face the overhang of foreign reprisals.

5. Architecture. a projecting upper part of a building, as a roof or balcony.

overhang

verb

1. to project or extend beyond (a surface, building, etc)
2. tr to hang or be suspended over
3. tr to menace, threaten, or dominate

noun

1. a formation, object, part of a structure, etc, that extends beyond or hangs over something, such as an outcrop of rock overhanging a mountain face
2. the amount or extent of projection
3. aeronautics
   1. half the difference in span of the main supporting surfaces of a biplane or other multiplane
   2. the distance from the outer supporting strut of a wing to the wing tip
4. finance the shares, collectively, that the underwriters have to buy when a new issue has not been fully taken up by the market

Word History and Origins

Origin of overhang¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; over- + hang

Example Sentences

Hamstrung by the lower standards of the boom years, it reported that it was still coping with the overhang of the bubble.

From The Daily Beast

Roll out the remaining dough to cover the top of the dish with some overhang.

From The Daily Beast

Bits of woodland arePg 129 interspersed with bright green sheep pastures and high, almost mountainous, bluffs overhang the valley.

From Project Gutenberg

Scattergood was present, sitting in a corner under the overhang of the balcony, watching, but discouraging conversation.

From Project Gutenberg

Among all the obscurities that overhang this subject, a few facts are, nevertheless, demonstrated.

From Project Gutenberg

This projection was known as the "overhang," and was designed as a protection against rams.

From Project Gutenberg

The slender willow-shoots trailed along the sides, caught in the rough ends of the iron overhang, and held the vessel immovable.

From Project Gutenberg