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OVERHEAD
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A hard return hitting the tennis ball above your head
Synonyms:
overhead; smash
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("overhead" is a kind of...):
return (a tennis stroke that sends the ball back to the other player)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(nautical) the top surface of an enclosed space on a ship
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("overhead" is a kind of...):
ceiling (the overhead upper surface of a covered space)
Domain category:
navigation; sailing; seafaring (the work of a sailor)
Holonyms ("overhead" is a part of...):
cabin (small room on a ship or boat where people sleep)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A transparency for use with an overhead projector
Synonyms:
overhead; viewgraph
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("overhead" is a kind of...):
foil; transparency (picture consisting of a positive photograph or drawing on a transparent base; viewed with a projector)
Sense 4
Meaning:
(computer science) the disk space required for information that is not data but is used for location and timing
Synonyms:
disk overhead; overhead
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Hypernyms ("overhead" is a kind of...):
disc space; disk space ((computer science) the space available on a magnetic disk)
Domain category:
computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)
Sense 5
Meaning:
The expense of maintaining property (e.g., paying property taxes and utilities and insurance); it does not include depreciation or the cost of financing or income taxes
Synonyms:
budget items; operating cost; operating expense; overhead
Classified under:
Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession
Hypernyms ("overhead" is a kind of...):
disbursal; disbursement; expense (amounts paid for goods and services that may be currently tax deductible (as opposed to capital expenditures))
Domain category:
revenue enhancement; tax; taxation (charge against a citizen's person or property or activity for the support of government)
Holonyms ("overhead" is a part of...):
operating budget (a budget for current expenses as distinct from financial transactions or permanent improvements)
Sense 6
Meaning:
(computer science) the processing time required by a device prior to the execution of a command
Synonyms:
command overhead; command processing overhead; command processing overhead time; overhead
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("overhead" is a kind of...):
processing time (the time it takes to complete a prescribed procedure)
Domain category:
computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)
Holonyms ("overhead" is a part of...):
access time ((computer science) the interval between the time data is requested by the system and the time the data is provided by the drive)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Located or originating from above
Example:
an overhead crossing
Classified under:
Antonym:
subsurface (beneath the surface)
surface (on the surface)
III. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Above the head; over the head
Example:
bring the legs together overhead
Classified under:
Sense 2
Meaning:
Above your head; in the sky
Example:
planes were flying overhead
Classified under:
Context examples:
Then I was sent up to “Captain Hopkins” in the room overhead, with Mr. Micawber's compliments, and I was his young friend, and would Captain Hopkins lend me a knife and fork.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The executor of the estate forced us to sell because the monthly overhead was costly.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
Airplanes are a good example of this effect: a closer, low-flying plane will appear to fly overhead more rapidly than a high-flying one.
(A cold, close neighbor of the Sun, NASA)
Analyses of data from more than 600 overhead passes with the onboard radar instrument reveal a deposit more extensive in area than the state of New Mexico.
(Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior, NASA)
Squirrels were chattering, birds singing, and overhead honked the wild-fowl driving up from the south in cunning wedges that split the air.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
Chattering jays and loud wood-pigeons flapped thickly overhead, while ever and anon the measured tapping of Nature's carpenter, the great green woodpecker, sounded from each wayside grove.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was no wonder that from below we had not observed the place, as the cliffs curved overhead and an ascent at the spot would have seemed so impossible as to discourage close inspection.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The ambient sound field is dominated by the sound of earthquakes, both near and far, as well as distinct moans of baleen whales, and the clamor of a category 4 typhoon that just happened to pass overhead.
(Seven miles deep, the ocean is still a noisy place, NOAA)
There was a nervous suspense over us all, as though overhead some dread bell would peal out powerfully when we should least expect it.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
And overhead—yes, in the room just above my chamber-ceiling—I now heard a struggle: a deadly one it seemed from the noise; and a half-smothered voice shouted—"Help! help! help!" three times rapidly.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
