preposition
- In or at a position above or higher than: a sign over the door; a hawk gliding over the hills.
a. Above and across from one end or side to the other: a jump over the fence.
b. To the other side of; across: strolled over the bridge.
c. Across the edge of and down: fell over the cliff.
- On the other side of: a village over the border.
a. Upon the surface of: put a coat of varnish over the woodwork.
b. On top of or down upon: clubbed him over the head; tripped over the toys.
a. Through the extent of; all through: walked over the grounds; looked over the report.
b. Through the medium of; via: addressed us over the loudspeaker; can't tell you over the phone.
- So as to cover: put rocks over a cave entrance; threw a shawl over her shoulders.
- Up to or higher than the level or height of: The water was over my shoulders.
a. Through the period or duration of: records maintained over two years.
b. Until or beyond the end of: stayed over the holidays.
- More than in degree, quantity, or extent: over ten miles; over a thousand dollars.
a. In superiority to: won a narrow victory over her rival; a distinct advantage over our competitors.
b. In preference to: selected him over all the others.
- In a position to rule or control: The director presides over the meeting. There is no one over him in the department.
- So as to have an effect or influence on: the change that came over you.
- At a point at which one is no longer troubled by: I'm not quite over the cold I caught last week.
- While occupied with or engaged in: a chat over coffee.
- With reference to; concerning: an argument over methods.
adverb
- Above the top or surface: climbed the ladder and peered over.
a. Across to another or opposite side: stopped at the curb, then crossed over.
b. Across the edge, brink, or brim: The coffee spilled over.
c. Across an intervening space: Throw the ball over.
a. Across a distance in a particular direction or at a location: lives over in England.
b. To another often specified place or position: Move your chair over toward the fire.
c. To one's place of residence or business: invited us over for cocktails.
- Throughout an entire area or region: wandered all over.
a. To a different opinion or allegiance: win someone over.
b. So as to be comprehensible, acceptable, or effective; across: eventually got my point over.
- To a different person, condition, or title: sign the property over.
- So as to be completely enclosed or covered: The river froze over. Engineers sealed the tunnel entrance over.
- Completely through; from beginning to end: Think the problem over. Let's read the memo over.
a. From an upright position: kicked the bookstand over.
b. From an upward position to an inverted or reversed position: turn the paper over.
- Another time; again: counted his cards over; had to do it over.
- In repetition: made me write it ten times over.
- In addition or excess; in surplus: lots of food left over.
- Beyond or until a specified time: stay a day over.
- At an end: Summer is over.
noun
Sports A series of six balls bowled from one end of a cricket pitch.
transitive verb
o·vered, o·ver·ing, o·vers To jump over: Horse and rider overed the stile with ease.
interjection
Used in two-way radio to indicate that a transmission is complete and a reply is awaited.
Origin of over
Middle English
from Old English
ofer ; see
uper in Indo-European roots.
Usage Note: While working as a newspaper editor in the late 1800s, William Cullen Bryant forbade the use of over in the sense of “more than,” as in These rocks are over 5 million years old. Bryant provided no rationale for this injunction, but such was his stature that the stipulation was championed by other American editors, who also felt no reason to offer an explanation. Critics later allowed the usage in some contexts, but their reasons are dubious at best. In point of fact, over has been used as a synonym of more than since the 1300s. In our 2009 survey, 86 percent of the Usage Panel accepted over with the meaning “more than.” This usage is fully standard.
Adjective (comparative more over, superlative most over)
- Finished; ended or concluded.
- The show is over.
Adverb - (US) Again; another time; once more; over again.
- I lost my paper and I had to do the entire assignment over.
- Thoroughly; completely; from beginning to end.
- Let's talk over the project at tomorrow's meeting.
- Let me think that over.
- I'm going to look over our department's expenses.
- Let's go over scene 3 from the top.
- From an upright position to being horizontal.
- He tipped the bottle over, and the water came gushing out.
- That building just fell over!
- He bent over to touch his toes.
- Horizontally; left to right or right to left.
- Slide the toilet-paper dispenser's door over when one roll is empty in order to reveal the other.
- I moved over to make room for him to sit down.
- From one position or state to another.
- Please pass that over to me.
- He came over to our way of thinking on the new project.
- Come over and play!
- I'll bring over a pizza.
- Overnight (throughout the night).
- We stayed over at Grandma's.
- Can I sleep over?
Noun (plural overs)
- (cricket) A set of six legal balls bowled.
- Any surplus amount of money, goods delivered, etc.
Preposition - Physical positioning.
- On top of; above; higher than; further up.
- Hold the sign up over your head. climb up the ladder and look over [the roof]
- Across or spanning.
- There is a bridge over the river.
- In such a way as to cover.
- drape the fabric over the table; there is a roof over the house
- From one physical position to another via an obstacle that must be traversed vertically, first upwards and then downwards.
- The dog jumped over the fence.
- I'll go over [the fence] first and then help you.
- Let's walk over the hill to get there.
- By comparison.
- More than; to a greater degree.
- I prefer the purple over the pink.
- Beyond; past; exceeding; too much or too far.
- I think I'm over my limit for calories for today.
- (in certain collocations) As compared to.
- Sales are down this quarter over last.
- (mathematics) Divided by.
- four over two equals two over one
- Finished with; done with; from one state to another via a hindrance that must be solved or defeated; or via a third state that represents a significant difference from the first two.
- We got over the engineering problems and the prototype works great.
- I am over my cold and feel great again.
- I know the referee made a bad call, but you have to get over it [your annoyance with the referee's decision].
- She is finally over [the distress of] losing her job.
- He is finally over his [distress over the loss of the relationship with his] ex-girlfriend.
- While using, especially while consuming.
- Concerning or regarding.
- The two boys had a fight over whose girlfriend was the best.
- Above, implying superiority after a contest; in spite of; notwithstanding.
- We triumphed over difficulties.
- The bill was passed over the veto.
- It was a fine victory over their opponents.
Usage notes When used in the context of "from one location to another", over implies that the two places are at approximately the same height or the height difference is not relevant. For example, if two offices are on the same floor of a building, an office worker might say I'll bring that over for you, while if the offices were on different floors, the sentence would likely be I'll bring that up [down] for you. However, distances are not constrained, e.g. He came over from England last year and now lives in Los Angeles or I moved the stapler over to the other side of my desk.
Interjection - In radio communications: end of sentence, ready to receive reply.
- How do you receive? Over!
Origin From Old English ofer, from Proto-Germanic *uber, from Proto-Indo-European *upér-, a comparative form of *upo; akin to Dutch over, German ober, über, Old High German ubir, ubar, Danish over, Swedish över, Icelandic yfir, Gothic ðŒ¿ð†ðŒ°ð‚ (ufar), Latin super, Ancient Greek ὑπÎÏ (hupér), Albanian epër (“superior"), Sanskrit उपरि (upari).
Usage notes Comparison of relative combinations (two separate words, hyphenated or a single compound word) does not easily fit a pattern; terms become compound words as they are broadly accepted.
Origin From Middle English over-, from Old English ofer- (“over-"), from Proto-Germanic *ubar- (“over-"). Cognate with Dutch over-, German über-, Danish over-, Swedish över-. More at over.
