Over

[oh-ver] /ˈoʊ vər/

preposition
1.
above in place or position:
the roof over one’s head.
2.
above and to the other side of:
to leap over a wall.
3.
above in authority, rank, power, etc., so as to govern, control, or have jurisdiction regarding:
There is no one over her in the department now.
4.
so as to rest on or cover; on or upon:
Throw a sheet over the bed.
5.
on or upon, so as to cause an apparent change in one’s mood, attitude, etc.:
I can’t imagine what has come over her.
6.
on or on top of:
to hit someone over the head.
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.
12.
reaching higher than, so as to submerge:
The water is over his shoulders.
13.
in excess of; more than:
over a mile; not over five dollars.
14.
above in degree, quantity, etc.:
a big improvement over last year’s turnout.
15.
in preference to:
chosen over another applicant.
16.
throughout the length of:
The message was sent over a great distance.
17.
until after the end of:
to adjourn over the holidays.
18.
throughout the duration of:
over a long period of years.
19.
in reference to, concerning, or about:
to quarrel over a matter.
20.
while engaged in or occupied with:
to fall asleep over one’s work.
21.
via; by means of:
He told me over the phone. I heard it over the radio.
adverb
22.
beyond the top or upper surface or edge of something:
a roof that hangs over.
23.
so as to cover the surface, or affect the whole surface:
The furniture was covered over with dust.
24.
through a region, area, etc.:
He was known the world over.
25.
at some distance, as in a direction indicated:
They live over by the hill.
26.
from side to side; across; to the other side:
to sail over.
27.
across an intervening space:
Toss the ball over, will you?
28.
across or beyond the edge or rim:
The soup boiled over. The bathtub ran over.
29.
from beginning to end; throughout:
to read a paper over; Think it over.
30.
from one person, party, etc., to another:
Hand the money over. He made the property over to his brother.
31.
on the other side, as of a sea, a river, or any space:
over in Japan.
32.
so as to displace from an upright position:
to knock over a glass of milk.
33.
so as to put in the reversed position:
She turned the bottle over. The dog rolled over.
34.
once more; again:
Do the work over.
35.
in repetition or succession:
twenty times over.
36.
in excess or addition:
to pay the full sum and something over.
37.
in excess of or beyond a certain amount:
Five goes into seven once, with two over.
38.
throughout or beyond a period of time:
to stay over till Monday.
39.
to one’s residence, office, or the like:
Why don’t you come over for lunch?
40.
so as to reach a place across an intervening space, body of water, etc.: Her ancestors came over on the Mayflower.
adjective
41.
upper; higher up.
42.
higher in authority, station, etc.
43.
serving, or intended to serve, as an outer covering; outer.
44.
remaining or additional, surplus; extra.
45.
too great; excessive (usually used in combination):
Insufficient tact and overaggressiveness are two of his problems.
46.
ended; done; past:
when the war was over.
noun
47.
an amount in excess or addition; extra.
48.
Military. a shot that strikes or bursts beyond the target.
49.
Cricket.

verb (used with object)
50.
to go or get over; leap over.
51.
Southern U.S. to recover from.
interjection
52.
(used in radio communications to signify that the sender has temporarily finished transmitting and is awaiting a reply or acknowledgment.)
Compare (def 53).
Idioms
53.
all over,

54.
all over with, ended; finished:
It seemed miraculous that the feud was all over with.
55.
over again, in repetition; once more:
The director had the choir sing one passage over again.
56.
over against. (def 13).
57.
over and above, in addition to; besides:
a profit over and above what they had anticipated.
58.
over and over, several times; repeatedly:
They played the same record over and over.
59.
over the hill. (def 11).
60.
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.
61.
over with, finished or done:
Let’s get this thing over with, so that we don’t have to worry about it any more.
1.
a prefixal use of , 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.
/ˈəʊvə/
preposition
1.
directly above; on the top of; via the top or upper surface of: over one’s head
2.
on or to the other side of: over the river
3.
during; through, or throughout (a period of time)
4.
in or throughout all parts of: to travel over England
5.
throughout the whole extent of: over the racecourse
6.
above; in preference to: I like that over everything else
7.
by the agency of (an instrument of telecommunication): we heard it over the radio
8.
more than: over a century ago
9.
on the subject of; about: an argument over nothing
10.
while occupied in: discussing business over golf
11.
having recovered from the effects of: she’s not over that last love affair yet
12.
over and above, added to; in addition to: he earns a large amount over and above his salary
adverb
13.
in a state, condition, situation, or position that is or has been placed or put over something: to climb over
14.
(particle) so as to cause to fall: knocking over a policeman
15.
at or to a point across intervening space, water, etc: come over and see us, over in America
16.
throughout a whole area: the world over
17.
(particle) from beginning to end, usually cursorily: to read a document over
18.
throughout a period of time: stay over for this week
19.
(esp in signalling and radio) it is now your turn to speak, act, etc
20.
more than is expected or usual: not over well
21.
over again, once more
22.
over against

23.
(often foll by again) over and over, repeatedly
24.
over the odds

adjective
25.
(postpositive) finished; no longer in progress: is the concert over yet?
adverb, adjective
26.
remaining; surplus (often in the phrase left over)
noun
27.
(cricket)

prefix
1.
excessive or excessively; beyond an agreed or desirable limit: overcharge, overdue, oversimplify
2.
indicating superior rank: overseer
3.
indicating location or movement above: overhang
4.
indicating movement downwards: overthrow
prep.

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.

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.”

Related Terms

the once-over