overlie
Americanverb (used with object)
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to lie over or upon, as a covering or stratum.
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to smother (an infant) by lying on them, as in sleep.
verb
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to lie or rest upon Compare overlay
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to kill (a baby or newborn animal) by lying upon it
Etymology
Origin of overlie
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English overlien, overliggen; over-, lie 2
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.
“Indeed, with the discovery that both cartouches of Ay overlie original cartouches of Tutankhamun, we have the veritable smoking gun,” he said.
From New York Times • Oct. 30, 2022
The researchers combined reams of geologic data from 2003 to 2017 to determine where U.S. forests and shrublands overlie bedrock that roots could feasibly reach.
From Scientific American • Dec. 29, 2021
However, near the bottom horizontal strata overlie tilted strata.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017
Schmidt calculates that these tumbled patches of ice probably overlie pockets of liquid water trapped in the shifting ice.
From Slate • Dec. 19, 2014
High clouds temporarily overlie about a third of the GRS.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
