overhang
Americanverb (used with object)
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overhangs,
present (3rd person singular)
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overhung,
past participle, past
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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.
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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
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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:
Using an 18-base overhang, the researchers achieved a joining efficiency of 44%.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
For Al-Louh, his wife and six children, living under the overhang of a partially destroyed building, the Yellow Line has imposed its own schedule.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
SpaceX is having its best day in weeks now that an overhang has been lifted.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
As it is, they hail the company’s resolution of complex, multistakeholder negotiations and removal of a long-running overhang on the stock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
There was an overhang to the cliff, up ahead.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
The improvement became even greater with longer overhangs.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 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
Remaining overhangs on branded GLP-1 uptake, namely injectable supply and pricing dynamics, “were largely resolved last year,” analysts wrote in a lengthy research note on Tuesday.
From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026
The South Korean entertainment company’s stock valuation discount already reflects structural overhangs, such as weak earnings-per-share visibility and balance sheet concerns, Kim says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
Within the enclosure there weren’t any caves or rock overhangs to shelter under.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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
Nearby stood a crumbling amphitheater that served as a community kitchen, and near that a playground overhung by a latticework of improvised power lines.
From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2022
Some houses were so close to the narrowed stream that their decks overhung the water.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 1, 2022
Inside, fruit trees overhung a small, warm pool; saddles and bridles stored nearby gave the humid room a pleasantly horsy smell.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 19, 2021
In the white weather one could not see a crevasse until one could look down in to it—a little late, for the edges overhung, and were not always solid.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
To efficiently connect short pieces of DNA, scientists rely on overhanging sequences called sticky ends.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
With its deeply overhanging roofs, its insistent horizontality, and ground-hugging form, it is an exemplar of the Prairie Style.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 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
The moss was thick on the overhanging trees and the light of every star was extinguished in the leafy chapel through which Ben and Mary Anne walked home.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
