VOOZH about

URL: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/overhang

⇱ OVERHANG Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com


overhang

American  
[oh-ver-hang, oh-ver-hang] / ˌoʊ vərˈhæŋ, ˈoʊ vərˌhæŋ /

verb (used with object)

overhung, overhanging
  1. to hang or be suspended over.

    A great chandelier overhung the ballroom.

  2. to extend, project, or jut over.

    A wide balcony overhangs the garden.

  3. to impend over or threaten, as danger or evil; loom over.

    The threat of war overhung Europe.

  4. to spread throughout; permeate; pervade.

    the melancholy that overhung the proceedings.

  5. Informal. to hover over, as a threat or menace.

    Unemployment continues to overhang the economic recovery.


verb (used without object)

overhung, overhanging
  1. to hang over; project or jut out over something below.

    How far does the balcony overhang?

noun

  1. something that extends or juts out over; projection.

  2. the extent of projection, as of the bow of a ship.

  3. Informal. an excess or surplus.

    an overhang of office space in midtown.

  4. a threat or menace.

    to face the overhang of foreign reprisals.

  5. Architecture. a projecting upper part of a building, as a roof or balcony.

overhang British  

verb

  1. to project or extend beyond (a surface, building, etc)

  2. (tr) to hang or be suspended over

  3. (tr) to menace, threaten, or dominate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. 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

  2. the amount or extent of projection

  3. aeronautics

    1. half the difference in span of the main supporting surfaces of a biplane or other multiplane

    2. the distance from the outer supporting strut of a wing to the wing tip

  4. finance the shares, collectively, that the underwriters have to buy when a new issue has not been fully taken up by the market

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of overhang

First recorded in 1590–1600; over- + hang

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.