Library / English Dictionary

OVERHANG

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: overhung   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Projection that extends beyond or hangs over something else

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

projection (any structure that branches out from a central support)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "overhang"):

eaves (the overhang at the lower edge of a roof)

fantail (an overhang consisting of the fan-shaped part of the deck extending aft of the sternpost of a ship)

Derivation:

overhang (be suspended over or hang over)

overhang (project over)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be suspended over or hang over

Example:

This huge rock beetles over the edge of the town

Synonyms:

beetle; overhang

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "overhang" is one way to...):

hang (be suspended or hanging)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

overhang (projection that extends beyond or hangs over something else)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Project over

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "overhang" is one way to...):

jut; jut out; project; protrude; stick out (extend out or project in space)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

overhang (projection that extends beyond or hangs over something else)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A few minutes later our driver pulled up at a neat little red-brick villa with overhanging eaves which stood by the road.

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

The one who led was a man between fifty and sixty years of age, war-worn and weather-beaten, with a broad, thoughtful forehead and eyes which shone brightly from under his fierce and overhung brows.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Non-homologous DNA end joining (NHEJ) can only repair double-strand breaks in which two DNA ends are rejoined by DNA ligase at regions of little or no homology to avoid degradation by DNA nucleases or noncomplementary overhanging ends.

(Nonhomologous DNA End Joining, NCI Thesaurus)

Then he set out: and when he had gone on his way some time he came to a deep valley, overhung with rocks and woods; and as he looked around, he saw standing above him on one of the rocks a little ugly dwarf, with a sugarloaf cap and a scarlet cloak; and the dwarf called to him and said, Prince, whither so fast?

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Buck did not know of this, and as he rounded the bend, the frost wraith of a rabbit still flitting before him, he saw another and larger frost wraith leap from the overhanging bank into the immediate path of the rabbit.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

They overhung the archway, thrust themselves between the bars of the great gate with a sweet welcome to passers-by, and lined the avenue, winding through lemon trees and feathery palms up to the villa on the hill.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The spire of Evian shone under the woods that surrounded it and the range of mountain above mountain by which it was overhung.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

It was a gaunt, aquiline face which was turned towards us, with piercing dark eyes, which lurked in deep hollows under overhung and tufted brows.

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

It was a large, airy place, with a little spring and a pool of clear water, overhung with ferns.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

As it came slowly forth and overhung the chasm, we saw that it was a very large snake with a peculiar flat, spade-like head.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)