overbite

American

[oh-ver-bahyt] / ˈoʊ vərˌbaɪt /

noun

Dentistry.

occlusion in which the upper incisor teeth overlap the lower ones.

overbite British

/ ˈəʊvəˌbaɪt /

noun

Also called: vertical overlap. dentistry an extension of the upper front teeth over the lower front teeth when the mouth is closed

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of overbite

First recorded in 1885–90; over- + bite

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Specialists at a Liverpool university have now used photographs, dental records and CT scans of the man's skull to reveal he had "striking facial features", including an overbite.

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2026

Richards Spur contains many fossils of Captorhinus aguti—an iguana-size, lizardlike reptile with a pronounced overbite that Mooney describes as “cute, even chunky.”

From Science Magazine • Jan. 11, 2024

Could anything be done about his overbite, he asked?

From Washington Post • Aug. 19, 2022

She thrusts her upper jaw forward into an exaggerated overbite.

From Slate • Feb. 12, 2021

She’s got an overbite from doing that too.

From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023