overhang

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

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR overhang ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), o·ver·hung, o·ver·hang·ing.

to hang or be suspended over: A great chandelier overhung the ballroom.

to extend, project, or jut over: A wide balcony overhangs the garden.

to impend over or threaten, as danger or evil; loom over: The threat of war overhung Europe.

to spread throughout; permeate; pervade: the melancholy that overhung the proceedings.

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.

to hang over; project or jut out over something below: How far does the balcony overhang?

noun

something that extends or juts out over; projection.

the extent of projection, as of the bow of a ship.

Informal. an excess or surplus: an overhang of office space in midtown.

a threat or menace: to face the overhang of foreign reprisals.

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

Nearby words

Origin of overhang

First recorded in 1590–1600; over- + hang

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for overhang

Hamstrung by the lower standards of the boom years, it reported that it was still coping with the overhang of the bubble.
Freddie Mac’s Profits Obscure Housing-Boom Damage|Daniel Gross|March 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Roll out the remaining dough to cover the top of the dish with some overhang.
Fresh Picks|Scott Conant|April 28, 2011|DAILY BEAST
It will be seen from the plan that the overhang aft runs out into a point, and that there is thus no transom.
The South Pole, Volumes 1 and 2|Roald Amundsen
Masses of red valerian, and some of the graceful bright rose-bay willow-herb, give colour to the banks and overhang the walls.
Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts|Rosalind Northcote

They felt safer in their boat, adrift in a tree-bordered lagoon, even if dark, mysterious foliage did overhang them.
Captain Ted|Louis Pendleton
Here and there the rock juts out among the villas that overhang the river, while verdure shows on the high banks.
Old Continental Towns|Walter M. Gallichan
One bank of it is covered with dark trees that overhang and make green pictures of themselves in the water when the wind is still.
Pond and Stream|Arthur Ransome

British Dictionary definitions for overhang

overhang

verb (ˌəʊvəˈhæŋ) -hangs, -hanging or -hung

to project or extend beyond (a surface, building, etc)

(tr) to hang or be suspended over

(tr) to menace, threaten, or dominate

noun (ˈəʊvəˌhæŋ)

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

the amount or extent of projection

aeronautics

half the difference in span of the main supporting surfaces of a biplane or other multiplane
the distance from the outer supporting strut of a wing to the wing tip

finance the shares, collectively, that the underwriters have to buy when a new issue has not been fully taken up by the market

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

Word Origin and History for overhang

overhang

1590s, from over- + hang (v.). Related: Overhung; overhanging.

overhang

"fact of overhanging," 1864, from overhang (v.).

overhang

verb (used with object), o·ver·hung, o·ver·hang·ing.

verb (used without object), o·ver·hung, o·ver·hang·ing.

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of overhang

Examples from the Web for overhang

overhang

verb (ˌəʊvəˈhæŋ) -hangs, -hanging or -hung

noun (ˈəʊvəˌhæŋ)

overhang

overhang