OVERHEAD


Meaning of OVERHEAD in English

I. | ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷ adverb

Etymology: over (II) + head, n.

1. : above one's head: as

a. : in the sky : on high : aloft

looking up at the stars overhead

overhead the terns hovering close — E.A.Weeks

b. : in the story or on the floor above

making a terrific racket overhead

2. : so as to be covered head and all

plunged overhead into the water

II. ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ adjective

1.

a. : operating or situated above or overhead

gardens … equipped with overhead irrigation — Monsanto Magazine

b. : passing over the head

an overhead rein

c. : above the grade of a railway or highway

an overhead crossing

d. : having the driving part above the part driven

an overhead pulley shaft

2. : general, indirect, or undistributed as distinct from particular and direct

overhead charges

overhead expenses

III. ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ noun

1.

a. : those general charges or expenses in a business which cannot be charged up as belonging exclusively to any particular part of the work or product (as rent, taxes, insurance, lighting, heating, accounting and other office expenses, and depreciation)

b. : a particular charge of such character

there were too many overheads — F.D.Ommanney

2. : ceiling

a big room with a low overhead — R.O.Bowen

especially : the ceiling of a ship's compartment

3. North & Midland : a loft in a barn ; specifically : haymow

4. : a stroke in a racket game made above head height : smash

5. : the effluent vapor from the top of a distillation column

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.