I. POSITION AND MOVEMENT
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Note: In addition to the uses shown below, '~' is used after some verbs, nouns, and adjectives in order to introduce extra information. 'Over' is also used in phrasal verbs such as ‘hand ~’ and ‘glaze ~’.
1.
If one thing is ~ another thing or is moving ~ it, the first thing is directly above the second, either resting on it, or with a space between them.
He looked at himself in the mirror ~ the table.
...a bridge ~ the river Danube.
? under
PREP
•
Over is also an adverb.
...planes flying ~ every 10 or 15 minutes.
ADV: ADV after v
2.
If one thing is ~ another thing, it is supported by it and its ends are hanging down on each side of it.
A grey mackintosh was folded ~ her arm...
Joe’s clothing was flung ~ the back of a chair.
PREP: usu -ed PREP n
3.
If one thing is ~ another thing, it c~s part or all of it.
Mix the ingredients and pour ~ the mushrooms...
He was wearing a light-grey suit ~ a shirt...
He pulled the cap halfway ~ his ears.
PREP
•
Over is also an adverb.
Heat this syrup and pour it ~.
ADV: ADV after v
4.
If you lean ~ an object, you bend your body so that the top part of it is above the object.
They stopped to lean ~ a gate...
Everyone in the room was bent ~ her desk.
PREP: v PREP n
•
Over is also an adverb.
Sam leant ~ to open the door of the car.
ADV: ADV after v
5.
If you look ~ or talk ~ an object, you look or talk across the top of it.
I went and stood beside him, looking ~ his shoulder.
...conversing ~ the fence with your friend...
PREP: usu v PREP n
6.
If a window has a view ~ an area of land or water, you can see the land or water through the window.
...a light and airy bar with a wonderful view ~ the River Amstel...
= onto
PREP: n PREP n, v PREP n
7.
If someone or something goes ~ a barrier, obstacle, or boundary, they get to the other side of it by going across it, or across the top of it.
I stepped ~ a broken piece of wood...
He’d just come ~ the border.
PREP: v PREP n
•
Over is also an adverb.
I climbed ~ into the back seat.
ADV: ADV after v
8.
If someone or something moves ~ an area or surface, they move across it, from one side to the other.
She ran swiftly ~ the lawn to the gate...
Joe passed his hand ~ his face and looked puzzled.
= across
PREP
9.
If something is on the opposite side of a road or river, you can say that it is ~ the road or river.
...a fashionable neighbourhood, just ~ the river from Manhattan.
= across
PREP
10.
If you go ~ to a place, you go to that place.
I got out the car and drove ~ to Dervaig...
I thought you might have invited her ~.
ADV: ADV after v, oft ADV to n
11.
You can use ~ to indicate a particular position or place a short distance away from someone or something.
He noticed Rolfe standing silently ~ by the window...
John reached ~ and took Joanna’s hand...
ADV: ADV after v, oft ADV prep
12.
You use ~ to say that someone or something falls towards or onto the ground, often suddenly or violently.
He was knocked ~ by a bus and broke his leg...
The truck had gone off the road and toppled ~.
ADV: ADV after v
13.
If something rolls ~ or is turned ~, its position changes so that the part that was facing upwards is now facing downwards.
His car rolled ~ after a tyre was punctured...
The alarm did go off but all I did was yawn, turn ~ and go back to sleep.
ADV: ADV after v
14.
All ~ a place means in every part of it.
...the letters she received from people all ~ the world.
PREP-PHRASE
15.
Over here means near you, or in the country you are in.
Why don’t you come ~ here tomorrow evening...
PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR
16.
Over there means in a place a short distance away from you, or in another country.
The cafe is just across the road ~ there...
She’d married some American and settled down ~ there.
PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR
II. AMOUNTS AND OCCURRENCES
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If something is ~ a particular amount, measurement, or age, it is more than that amount, measurement, or age.
Cigarettes kill ~ a hundred thousand Britons every year...
I met George well ~ a year ago.
PREP: PREP amount
•
Over is also an adverb.
...people aged 65 and ~.
ADV: amount and ADV
2.
Over and above an amount, especially a normal amount, means more than that amount or in addition to it.
Expenditure on education has gone up by seven point eight per cent ~ and above inflation...
PREP-PHRASE
3.
If you say that you have some food or money ~, you mean that it remains after you have used all that you need.
Larsons pay me well enough, but there’s not much ~ for luxuries when there’s two of you to live on it...
Primrose was given an apple, left ~ from our picnic lunch.
ADV: be ADV, n ADV, ADV after v
4.
If you do something ~, you do it again or start doing it again from the beginning. (AM)
She said if she had the chance to do it ~, she would have hired a press secretary...
= again
ADV: ADV after v
5.
If you say that something happened twice ~, three times ~ and so on, you are stating the number of times that it happened and emphasizing that it happened more than once.
He had to have everything spelled out twice ~ for him.
PHRASE: PHR after v emphasis
6.
If you do something ~ again, you do it again or start doing it again from the beginning. (BRIT)
If I was living my life ~ again I wouldn’t have attended so many committee meetings.
PHRASE: PHR after v
7.
If you say that something is happening all ~ again, you are emphasizing that it is happening again, and you are suggesting that it is tiring, boring, or unpleasant.
The whole process started all ~ again...
He had to prove himself all ~ again.
PHRASE: PHR after v emphasis
8.
If you say that something happened ~ and ~ or ~ and ~ again, you are emphasizing that it happened many times.
He plays the same songs ~ and ~...
‘I don’t understand it,’ he said, ~ and ~ again.
PHRASE: PHR after v emphasis
III. OTHER USES
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If an activity is ~ or all ~, it is completely finished.
Warplanes that have landed there will be kept until the war is ~...
I am glad it’s all ~.
ADJ: v-link ADJ
2.
If you are ~ an illness or an experience, it has finished and you have rec~ed from its effects.
I’m glad that you’re ~ the flu...
She was still getting ~ the shock of what she had been told.
PREP
3.
If you have control or influence ~ someone or something, you are able to control them or influence them.
He’s never had any influence ~ her...
The oil companies have lost their power ~ oil price and oil production.
PREP: n PREP n
4.
You use ~ to indicate what a disagreement or feeling relates to or is caused by.
...concern ~ recent events in Burma...
Staff at some air and sea ports are beginning to protest ~ pay...
= about
PREP: n PREP n, v PREP n
5.
If something happens ~ a particular period of time or ~ something such as a meal, it happens during that time or during the meal.
Many strikes ~ the last few years have not ended successfully...
Over breakfast we discussed plans for the day.
...discussing the problem ~ a glass of wine.
PREP
6.
You use ~ to indicate that you give or receive information using a telephone, radio, or other piece of electrical equipment.
I’m not prepared to discuss this ~ the telephone...
The head of state addressed the nation ~ the radio...
= on
PREP
7.
The presenter of a radio or television programme says ‘~ to someone’ to indicate the person who will speak next.
With the rest of the sports news, ~ to Colin Maitland.
PREP-PHRASE
8.
When people such as the police or the army are using a radio to communicate, they say ‘Over’ to indicate that they have finished speaking and are waiting for a reply.
CONVENTION formulae
9.
In cricket, an ~ consists of six correctly bowled balls.
At the start of the last ~, bowled by Chris Lewis, the Welsh county were favourites.
N-COUNT