OVERHEAD

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does overhead mean? 

• OVERHEAD (noun)
  The noun OVERHEAD has 6 senses:

1. the expense of maintaining property (e.g., paying property taxes and utilities and insurance); it does not include depreciation or the cost of financing or income taxes

2. (computer science) the processing time required by a device prior to the execution of a command

3. (computer science) the disk space required for information that is not data but is used for location and timing

4. a transparency for use with an overhead projector

5. (nautical) the top surface of an enclosed space on a ship

6. a hard return hitting the tennis ball above your head

  Familiarity information: OVERHEAD used as a noun is common.

• OVERHEAD (adjective)
  The adjective OVERHEAD has 1 sense:

1. located or originating from above

  Familiarity information: OVERHEAD used as an adjective is very rare.

• OVERHEAD (adverb)
  The adverb OVERHEAD has 2 senses:

1. above your head; in the sky

2. above the head; over the head

  Familiarity information: OVERHEAD used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OVERHEAD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The expense of maintaining property (e.g., paying property taxes and utilities and insurance); it does not include depreciation or the cost of financing or income taxes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

budget items; operating cost; operating expense; overhead

Hypernyms ("overhead" is a kind of...):

disbursal; disbursement; expense (amounts paid for goods and services that may be currently tax deductible (as opposed to capital expenditures))

Domain category:

revenue enhancement; tax; taxation (charge against a citizen's person or property or activity for the support of government)

Holonyms ("overhead" is a part of...):

operating budget (a budget for current expenses as distinct from financial transactions or permanent improvements)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(computer science) the processing time required by a device prior to the execution of a command

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

command overhead; command processing overhead; command processing overhead time; overhead

Hypernyms ("overhead" is a kind of...):

processing time (the time it takes to complete a prescribed procedure)

Domain category:

computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)

Holonyms ("overhead" is a part of...):

access time ((computer science) the interval between the time data is requested by the system and the time the data is provided by the drive)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(computer science) the disk space required for information that is not data but is used for location and timing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

disk overhead; overhead

Hypernyms ("overhead" is a kind of...):

disc space; disk space ((computer science) the space available on a magnetic disk)

Domain category:

computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A transparency for use with an overhead projector

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

overhead; viewgraph

Hypernyms ("overhead" is a kind of...):

foil; transparency (picture consisting of a positive photograph or drawing on a transparent base; viewed with a projector)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(nautical) the top surface of an enclosed space on a ship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("overhead" is a kind of...):

ceiling (the overhead upper surface of a covered space)

Domain category:

navigation; sailing; seafaring (the work of a sailor)

Holonyms ("overhead" is a part of...):

cabin (small room on a ship or boat where people sleep)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A hard return hitting the tennis ball above your head

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

overhead; smash

Hypernyms ("overhead" is a kind of...):

return (a tennis stroke that sends the ball back to the other player)

• OVERHEAD (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Located or originating from above

Context example:

an overhead crossing

Antonym:

subsurface (beneath the surface)

surface (on the surface)

• OVERHEAD (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Above your head; in the sky

Context example:

planes were flying overhead

Sense 2

Meaning:

Above the head; over the head

Context example:

bring the legs together overhead

 Context examples 

The sound of men stamping overhead as they run about.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It came out of the third storey; for it passed overhead.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Then he stood upright while Hans drew the rope taut across the overhead branch.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

This went on, hour after hour, while outside all the world swooned under the overhead California sun.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It was early in the morning, but I didn't regret getting up to see it, for the bay was full of little boats, the shore so picturesque, and a rosy sky overhead.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

His face was convulsed and white, his eyes were flashing, his clenched fists raised overhead.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

She was about to renew her entreaties when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps was heard upon the stairs.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The court was very cool and a little damp, and full of premature twilight, although the sky, high up overhead, was still bright with sunset.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The sky was bright and cloudless overhead, and the tops of the trees shone rosily in the sun.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Secondly, growers would spend less on buying and applying chemicals—a major part of their overhead cost.

(Transferring Sorghum’s Weed-Killing Power to Rice, U.S. Department of Agriculture)