• synonyms


See more synonyms for over on Thesaurus.com
  4. so as to rest on or cover; on or upon: Throw a sheet over the bed.
  7. here and there on or in; about: at various places over the country.
  8. through all parts of; all through: to roam over the estate; to show someone over the house.
  9. to and fro on or in; across; throughout: to travel all over Europe.
  10. from one side to the other of; to the other side of; across: to go over a bridge.
  11. on the other side of; across: lands over the sea.
  13. in excess of; more than: over a mile; not over five dollars.
  15. in preference to: chosen over another applicant.
  21. via; by means of: He told me over the phone. I heard it over the radio.
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  5. from side to side; across; to the other side: to sail over.
  8. from beginning to end; throughout: to read a paper over; Think it over.
  13. once more; again: Do the work over.
  14. in repetition or succession: twenty times over.
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  1. upper; higher up.
  2. higher in authority, station, etc.
  4. remaining or additional, surplus; extra.
  6. ended; done; past: when the war was over.
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  1. an amount in excess or addition; extra.
  2. Military. a shot that strikes or bursts beyond the target.
  3. Cricket.
    1. the number of balls, usually six, delivered between successive changes of bowlers.
    2. the part of the game played between such changes.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to go or get over; leap over.
  2. Southern U.S. to recover from.
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  1. (used in radio communications to signify that the sender has temporarily finished transmitting and is awaiting a reply or acknowledgment.)Compare out(def 53).
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  1. all over,
    1. over the entire surface of; everywhere: material printed all over with a floral design.
    2. thoroughly; entirely.
    3. finished: The war was all over and the soldiers came home.
  2. all over with, ended; finished: It seemed miraculous that the feud was all over with.
  3. over again, in repetition; once more: The director had the choir sing one passage over again.
  4. over against. against(def 13).
  5. over and above, in addition to; besides: a profit over and above what they had anticipated.
  6. over and over, several times; repeatedly: They played the same record over and over.
  7. over the hill. hill(def 11).
  8. over there, Informal. (in the U.S. during and after World War I) in or to Europe: Many of the boys who went over there never came back.
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Origin of over

before 900; (adv., preposition) Middle English; Old English ofer; cognate with Dutch over, German ober; (adj.) Middle English over(e), orig. variant of uver(e) (E dial. uver; cf. love), Old English ufera (akin to ofer), assimilated to the adv. form; akin to Latin super, Greek hypér, Sanskrit upari. See up, hyper-


  1. a prefixal use of over, preposition, adverb, or adjective, occurring in various senses in compounds (overboard; overcoat; overhang; overlap; overlord; overrun; overthrow), and especially employed, with the sense of “over the limit,” “to excess,” “too much,” “too,” to form verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and nouns (overact; overcapitalize; overcrowd; overfull; overmuch; oversupply; overweight), and many others, mostly self-explanatory: a hyphen, which is commonly absent from old or well-established formations, is sometimes used in new coinages or in any words whose component parts it may be desirable to set off distinctly.
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Origin of over-

Middle English; Old English ofer-. See over

Examples from the Web for over

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Over the gate was written in large letters, 'The Entrance of Mortals.'


    Lydia Maria Child

  • Look at him now over there, the way he goes around butting into strangers.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • Say, honestly, I didn't know my own name till I had a chanst to look me over.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • He was so good they shot him all up one night last fall over to Wardner.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • “Thou art a big fellow for a school,” said his uncle, looking him over.

    The Armourer's Prentices

    Charlotte M. Yonge

British Dictionary definitions for over


  1. directly above; on the top of; via the top or upper surface ofover one's head
  2. on or to the other side ofover the river
  3. during; through, or throughout (a period of time)
  4. in or throughout all parts ofto travel over England
  5. throughout the whole extent ofover the racecourse
  6. above; in preference toI like that over everything else
  7. by the agency of (an instrument of telecommunication)we heard it over the radio
  8. more thanover a century ago
  9. on the subject of; aboutan argument over nothing
  10. while occupied indiscussing business over golf
  11. having recovered from the effects ofshe's not over that last love affair yet
  12. over and above added to; in addition tohe earns a large amount over and above his salary
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  1. in a state, condition, situation, or position that is or has been placed or put over somethingto climb over
  2. (particle) so as to cause to fallknocking over a policeman
  3. at or to a point across intervening space, water, etccome over and see us; over in America
  4. throughout a whole areathe world over
  5. (particle) from beginning to end, usually cursorilyto read a document over
  6. throughout a period of timestay over for this week
  7. (esp in signalling and radio) it is now your turn to speak, act, etc
  8. more than is expected or usualnot over well
  9. over again once more
  10. over against
    1. opposite to
    2. contrasting with
  11. over and over (often foll by again) repeatedly
  12. over the odds
    1. in addition, esp when not expected
    2. unfair or excessive
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  1. (postpositive) finished; no longer in progressis the concert over yet?
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adverb, adjective
  1. remaining; surplus (often in the phrase left over)
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  1. cricket
    1. a series of six balls bowled by a bowler from the same end of the pitch
    2. the play during this
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Word Origin

Old English ofer; related to Old High German ubir, obar, Old Norse yfir, Latin super, Greek huper


  1. excessive or excessively; beyond an agreed or desirable limitovercharge; overdue; oversimplify
  2. indicating superior rankoverseer
  3. indicating location or movement aboveoverhang
  4. indicating movement downwardsoverthrow
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Word Origin and History for over


Old English ofer "beyond, above, upon, in, across, past; on high," from Proto-Germanic *uberi (cf. Old Saxon obar, Old Frisian over, Old Norse yfir, Old High German ubar, German über, Gothic ufar "over, above"), from PIE *uper (see super-). As an adjective from Old English uffera. As an adverb from late Old English. Sense of "finished" is attested from late 14c. Meaning "recovered from" is from 1929. In radio communication, used to indicate the speaker has finished speaking (1926). Adjective phrase over-the-counter is attested from 1875, originally of stocks and shares.

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word-forming element meaning "above; highest; across; too much; above normal; outer," from Old English ofer (see over). Over and its Germanic relations were widely used as prefixes, and sometimes could be used with negative force, though this is rare in Modern English. Cf. Gothic ufarmunnon "to forget," ufar-swaran "to swear falsely;" Old English ofercræft "fraud."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with over

