overhang
Americanverb (used with object)
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overhangs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overhung,
past participle, past
-
overhanging
present participle
-
to hang or be suspended over.
A great chandelier overhung the ballroom.
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to extend, project, or jut over.
A wide balcony overhangs the garden.
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to impend over or threaten, as danger or evil; loom over.
The threat of war overhung Europe.
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to spread throughout; permeate; pervade.
the melancholy that overhung the proceedings.
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Informal. to hover over, as a threat or menace.
Unemployment continues to overhang the economic recovery.
verb (used without object)
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overhangs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overhung,
past participle, past
-
overhanging
present participle
noun
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overhangs
plural
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something that extends or juts out over; projection.
-
the extent of projection, as of the bow of a ship.
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Informal. an excess or surplus.
an overhang of office space in midtown.
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a threat or menace.
to face the overhang of foreign reprisals.
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Architecture. a projecting upper part of a building, as a roof or balcony.
verb
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to project or extend beyond (a surface, building, etc)
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(tr) to hang or be suspended over
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(tr) to menace, threaten, or dominate
noun
-
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
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the amount or extent of projection
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aeronautics
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half the difference in span of the main supporting surfaces of a biplane or other multiplane
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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
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overhangsimple
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overhangssimple
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have overhungperfect
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has overhungperfect
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am overhangingprogressive
-
are overhangingprogressive
-
is overhangingprogressive
-
have been overhangingperfect progressive
-
has been overhangingperfect progressive
Past
-
overhungsimple
-
had overhungperfect
-
was overhangingprogressive
-
were overhangingprogressive
-
had been overhangingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overhang
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.
See Examples For:
But neither Enflame nor its fellow GPU makers have yet to turn a sustainable profit, creating an overhang for investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Wednesday’s development “significantly addresses” the overhang of youth-safety lawsuits over Meta’s stock, Mahaney wrote in a note.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
There was a hint of funkiness in the field, albeit an overhang from Root's first spell as captain.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
By comparison, a conventional 4-base overhang produced an efficiency of only 8%, giving the new approach a fivefold advantage.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
The shell was partly open, for the overhang protected this ancient oyster, and in the lip-like muscle Kino saw a ghostly gleam, and then the shell closed down.
From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck
The improvement became even greater with longer overhangs.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
“We acknowledge these overhangs but note that Netflix has successfully navigated similar periods of skepticism,” she said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
The gains have come despite increasing complexity with supply chain overhangs from the pandemic, changing environmental regulations, and the AI craze.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
Under the proposal, residents would not be allowed to plant anything within a 1-foot “Safety Zone” around the home, including beneath roof overhangs; two feet from windows, vents and doors and five feet from decks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2026
To climb the rocky hills at the peak of which our neighbors’ porches rose even higher, their balustrades festooned with potted plants, the zinc overhangs sparkling in the midday sun.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
It’s round so it can turn in place without running into another object, and flat so it can clean floors overhung by kitchen cabinets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2025
Betsy Aurnou, climbing with wraparound shades and fabric completely covering her face, carried Fritos and Vitalyte, and referred to the occasional slivers of shadow beneath overhung cliffs as “shade opportunities.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
Biden’s first stop Sunday was the memorial outside Robb Elementary School, located in a quiet grid of streets overhung with pecan trees and roamed by quarrelsome chickens.
From Washington Post ● May 29, 2022
Some houses were so close to the narrowed stream that their decks overhung the water.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 1, 2022
Tumbled shelves of rock often overhung the trail, fringed with hanging icicles that looked like long white teeth from a distance.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
To efficiently connect short pieces of DNA, scientists rely on overhanging sequences called sticky ends.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
“But once that technical overhanging is gone, I believe it’s going to trade at a premium, or at least at NAV.”
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
A dog has been rescued after falling through an overhanging ledge of snow and spending a wintry night out on a mountain in the Highlands.
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2026
Zumthor’s building design, which includes overhanging canopies, intentionally creates shade with outdoor events in mind, the executive explained.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2026
Out from the White Tower they walked, as if to a funeral, out into the darkness, where the overhanging cloud was lit beneath with flickers of dull red.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
