overhang
Americanverb (used with object)
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to hang or be suspended over.
A great chandelier overhung the ballroom.
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to extend, project, or jut over.
A wide balcony overhangs the garden.
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to impend over or threaten, as danger or evil; loom over.
The threat of war overhung Europe.
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to spread throughout; permeate; pervade.
the melancholy that overhung the proceedings.
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Informal. to hover over, as a threat or menace.
Unemployment continues to overhang the economic recovery.
verb (used without object)
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to hang over; project or jut out over something below.
How far does the balcony overhang?
noun
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something that extends or juts out over; projection.
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the extent of projection, as of the bow of a ship.
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Informal. an excess or surplus.
an overhang of office space in midtown.
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a threat or menace.
to face the overhang of foreign reprisals.
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Architecture. a projecting upper part of a building, as a roof or balcony.
verb
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to project or extend beyond (a surface, building, etc)
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(tr) to hang or be suspended over
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(tr) to menace, threaten, or dominate
noun
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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
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the amount or extent of projection
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aeronautics
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half the difference in span of the main supporting surfaces of a biplane or other multiplane
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the distance from the outer supporting strut of a wing to the wing tip
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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
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.
The failed bid could remove a key overhang, allowing investors to refocus on Sunway’s core earnings and underlying value, she reckons.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
Do not shelter under a tree or use a cliff or rocky overhang, the weather service warns.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
At the same time, he acknowledged that the development could be “a bit of an overhang on the shares in the near term.”
From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026
“The market may be beginning to price in a more favorable cost/supply backdrop for OEMs, as any stabilization in memory pricing and supply would reduce a key overhang on hardware profitability,” he said.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026
The roof was built with an overhang, so that a narrow gap separated the two buildings.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
