over
Language: English
Part of speech: prep
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈəʊ.və(ɹ)/
ipa: /aʊæ/
enpr: ō'vər
ipa: /ˈoʊ.vɚ/
rhymes: -əʊvə(ɹ)
Forms: form: o'er
form: ower
Etymology: From Middle English over, from Old English ofer, from Proto-West Germanic *obar, from Proto-Germanic *uber (“over”), from Proto-Indo-European *upér, related to *upó.
Akin to Scots ower (“over”), Yola oer, ower, owr (“over”), Saterland Frisian uur (“over”), West Frisian oer (“over, across”), Cimbrian übar (“over”), Dutch over (“over”), German ober, über, ueber (“over, above”), Limburgish euver, övver (“over”), Low German över, üöver (“over”), Luxembourgish iwwer (“over”), Mòcheno iber (“over”), Yiddish איבער (iber, “over”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål over (“over”), Faroese yvir (“over”), Icelandic yfir (“over”), Norwegian Nynorsk over, yver, yvi (“over”), Swedish över (“over”), Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂 (ufar, “over”), Latin super (“over, above”), Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér, “over, above”), Albanian upri (“group of peasants”), Sanskrit उपरि (upári, “over”).
Doublet of uber, super, and hyper.
Senses: examples: text: Hold the sign up over your head.
text: The mountain towered over the village.
text: Over them gleamed far off the crimson banners of morning.
ref: 1858 October 16, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Courtship of Miles Standish”, in The Courtship of Miles Standish, and Other Poems, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:
text: The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone,[…]. Scribes, illuminators, and scholars held such stones directly over manuscript pages as an aid in seeing what was being written, drawn, or read.
ref: 2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist:
glosses: Expressing spatial relationship or movement.
Above; higher than; further up than.
examples: text: The guide took us over the border.
glosses: Expressing spatial relationship or movement.
Across, from one side to the other.
examples: text: The vulture flew over the desert.
text: I looked out over the sea.
text: If I saw the wild geese fly over the dark lakes of Kerry...
ref: 1918, Dora Sigerson Shorter, Sick I Am and Sorrowful:
glosses: Expressing spatial relationship or movement.
Across, so as to pass above.
examples: text: The estate agent showed me over the property.
text: We went over the cathedral and then had lunch in the cafe.
text: (figuratively) We went over the figures together.
glosses: Expressing spatial relationship or movement.
Through or around all the parts of.
examples: text: He lives over the road from me.
text: The next town is over that hill.
glosses: Expressing spatial relationship or movement.
On the other side of.
examples: text: There was a big fire over the other side of town.
text: My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter III, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
glosses: Expressing spatial relationship or movement.
At or near (a location seen as 'across' from the speaker's location).
raw_tags: for 'over at/in/on'
examples: text: The dog jumped over the fence.
text: Let's walk over the hill to get there.
text: The lava bubbled up and over the rim of the crater.
glosses: Expressing spatial relationship or movement.
From one physical position to another via an obstacle that must be traversed vertically, first upwards and then downwards.
examples: text: The car drove straight over the edge of the cliff.
text: I tripped over a tree root.
glosses: Expressing spatial relationship or movement.
Across (something) and then downwards.
examples: text: Drape the fabric over the table.
text: There is a roof over the house.
text: (figuratively) A strange feeling came over me.
glosses: Expressing spatial relationship or movement.
On top of; in such a way as to cover.
examples: text: He is over a hundred years old.
text: It's over a hundred degrees outside.
text: I think I’m over my limit for calories for today.
glosses: Expressing comparison.
More than (a given value, amount, limit etc.); beyond; past; exceeding.
examples: text: I prefer the purple over the pink.
glosses: Expressing comparison.
To a greater degree than.
examples: text: Sales are down this quarter over last.
glosses: Expressing comparison.
As compared to.
raw_tags: in certain collocations
examples: text: He's got grumpier over the years.
text: I'll have to work over the weekend.
text: Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.
ref: 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3:
glosses: During or throughout (a time period).
examples: text: A stern voice boomed over the loudspeaker.
text: The message came over FM radio.
glosses: Through or via (a particular transmission medium).
examples: text: The owner's son lorded it over the experienced managers.
text: The prince ruled over a portion of the kingdom.
glosses: Indicating relative status, authority, or power
examples: text: We got over the engineering problems and the prototype works great.
text: I am over my cold and feel great again.
text: I know the referee made a bad call, but you have to get over it [your annoyance with the referee's decision].
text: She is finally over [the distress of] losing her job.
text: He is finally over his [distress over the loss of the relationship with his] ex-girlfriend.
glosses: In a position of having overcome (a problem or issue); past; finished 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.
examples: text: We had a chat over dinner.
text: He fell asleep over the crossword puzle.
text: Six diners in business clothes—five attractive young women and a balding middle-aged man—relax over cigarettes.
ref: 1990, Seymour Chatman, Coming to Terms, Cornell, →ISBN, page 100:
text: Sunday had been my favorite day at Woodlawn. A long W.A.A. [="work as assigned" period], having coffee and croissants with Mark over the Sunday Times.
ref: 1998, Marian Swerdlow, Underground Woman, Temple, →ISBN, page 88:
text: Over meatloaf and mashed potatoes (being careful not to talk with his mouth full), Stanley told about his adventure.
ref: 2009, Sara Pennypacker, The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery, Scholastic, →ISBN, page 79:
glosses: While doing an activity involving (something), especially while consuming.
examples: text: The two boys had a fight over whose girlfriend was the best.
text: It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.
ref: 2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
glosses: Concerning or regarding.
examples: text: We triumphed over difficulties.
text: The bill was passed over the veto.
text: It was a fine victory over their opponents.
text: I can't hear you over the noise of that road drill.
glosses: Above, implying superiority after a contest; in spite of; notwithstanding.
examples: text: He was fired over that.
text: Microsoft CEO should be fired over cyber failure
ref: 2024 May 24, “https://www.afr.com/technology/microsoft-ceo-should-be-fired-over-cyber-failure-20240523-p5jg4q”, in Financial Review:
glosses: Expressing causation: due to, as the result of.
examples: text: Two over six equals one over three.
topics: mathematics
sciences
synonyms: on
glosses: Divided by.
examples: 9♦9♠9♣6♥6♠ = nines over sixes
topics: card-games
poker
glosses: Separates the three of a kind from the pair in a full house.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
qualifier: more common in speech
glosses: Separates the primary chord of a slash chord from the bass note
Derived terms: all over
ride roughshod over