overhang

American  

[oh-ver-hang, oh-ver-hang] / ˌoʊ vərˈhæŋ, ˈoʊ vərˌhæŋ /

verb (used with object)

overhung, overhanging

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.

3. to impend over or threaten, as danger or evil; loom over.

   The threat of war overhung Europe.

4. to spread throughout; permeate; pervade.

   the melancholy that overhung the proceedings.

5. Informal. to hover over, as a threat or menace.

   Unemployment continues to overhang the economic recovery.

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verb (used without object)

overhung, overhanging

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.

3. Informal. an excess or surplus.

   an overhang of office space in midtown.

4. a threat or menace.

   to face the overhang of foreign reprisals.

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

overhang British  

verb

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

2. (tr) to hang or be suspended over

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

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noun

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

3. aeronautics

   1. half the difference in span of the main supporting surfaces of a biplane or other multiplane

   2. the distance from the outer supporting strut of a wing to the wing tip

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

Etymology

Origin of overhang

First recorded in 1590–1600; over- + hang

Example Sentences

On a rock overhang near his settlement, Salim Joseph, a 48-year-old Hadzabe community leader, watches workers pour concrete and install wire panels at a new school below.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026

Now investors can focus on that instead of a minor legal overhang.

From Barron's • May 4, 2026

“If this geopolitical overhang starts to dissipate, we think we get right back to a really strong fundamental picture for the economy,” he added.

From Barron's • Apr. 23, 2026

If the overhang extends 3 feet, so does the Safety Zone in that area.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026

He had the square, handsome face of his father, the porcelain complexion of his mother, and the dense overhang of eyebrows that ran in the Darwin family over generations.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee