overhang

[ verb oh-ver-hang; noun oh-ver-hang ]
See synonyms for: overhangoverhanging on Thesaurus.com

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.

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

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

  3. 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.

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

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

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

Origin of overhang

1
First recorded in 1590–1600; over- + hang

Words Nearby overhang

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use overhang in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for overhang

overhang

verb(ˌəʊvəˈhæŋ) -hangs, -hanging or -hung
  1. to project or extend beyond (a surface, building, etc)

  2. (tr) to hang or be suspended over

  1. (tr) to menace, threaten, or dominate

noun(ˈəʊvəˌhæŋ)
  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

  1. 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

  2. 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