Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

overhead

/ˈəʊvəˌhɛd/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.93 in modern English

Syllables: over-head
IPA: /ˈəʊvəˌhɛd/

15

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Located above, especially over the head.

adj

Kicked over one's own head.

noun

The expense of a business not directly assigned to goods or services provided.

Uncountable

noun

The items or classes of expense not directly assigned to goods or services provided.

Countable

noun

Any cost or expenditure (monetary, time, effort or otherwise) incurred in a project or activity, which does not directly contribute to its progress or outcome.

Uncountable

noun

Uncountable

noun

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The ceiling of any enclosed space below decks in a vessel.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"Place your luggage in the overhead lockers."
"The railway consists of some 18 miles of double track electrified on the overhead principle."
"In a city where media companies and hospitals have armed guards, this accessibility is unusual. Inside, drivers sit and chat in between shifts, the overhead fan whirring and causing the dim electric light to flicker over their faces."
"It was Rooney, however, who produced a moment of inspiration to score a stunning overhead kick that will live forever in the memory of United's fans and extended City's dismal sequence of only one league win in their last 27 visits to Old Trafford."
"There was no room left in the overheads for our luggage, our seats did not recline, and the washrooms were right behind us."
"Network overhead is the header data that is required to route and transport data over the network, whereas fork overhead is the additional time and memory cost of creating and managing new processes within the operating system."

Etymology

From Middle English owerheved, over-hed, over hede (adverb), from Old English oferhēafod (adverb), equivalent to over- + head. Compare German Low German overhoopt, överhoopt, German überhaupt. Piecewise doublet of overchief.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: owerheved, oferhēafod

Usage

Inflected Forms

more overhead (comparative) most overhead (superlative) overheads (plural)

Derived Forms

nonoverhead

Phrases

command processing overhead time overhead bin overhead bridge restaurant overhead cam overhead crane overhead engine overhead fan overhead kick

Synonyms

smash viewgraph disk overhead operating expense operating cost budget items command processing overhead time command processing overhead command overhead

Rhymes With

said read head red instead lead dead led bed ahead spread ed

Questions

How do you pronounce overhead?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈəʊvəˌhɛd/.
What does overhead mean?: Located above, especially over the head.
Where does overhead come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce overhead

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “overhead”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈəʊvəˌhɛd/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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