What does "overhead" mean?
The expense of a business not directly assigned to goods or services provided.
Overhead
/ˈəʊvəˌhɛd/ adj, adv, noun, prep
adj, adv, noun, prep ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The expense of a business not directly assigned to goods or services provided.
- Grammar: overhead is listed as adj, adv, noun, prep.
- Nearest alternatives: above, aboveground, abovestairs, aerial.
- Useful contrasts: subsurface, surface, underfoot.
- Usage evidence: The helicopter is hovering overhead.
How to use "overhead"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "overhead" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "overhead" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "overhead" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "overhead" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "overhead" is acting as adj, adv, noun, prep in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "above" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "overhead", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The expense of a business not directly assigned to goods or services provided. uncountable
- 2 An overhead projector. countable
- 3 a hard return hitting the tennis ball above your head wordnet
- 4 The items or classes of expense not directly assigned to goods or services provided. countable
- 5 A sheet of transparent material with an image used with an overhead projector; an overhead transparency. countable
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 (nautical) the top surface of an enclosed space on a ship wordnet
- 7 Any cost or expenditure (monetary, time, effort or otherwise) incurred in a project or activity, which does not directly contribute to its progress or outcome. uncountable
- 8 a transparency for use with an overhead projector wordnet
- 9 Wasted money. uncountable
- 10 (computer science) the disk space required for information that is not data but is used for location and timing wordnet
- 11 A smash. countable, uncountable
- 12 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 wordnet
- 13 The ceiling of any enclosed space below decks in a vessel. countable, uncountable
- 14 (computer science) the processing time required by a device prior to the execution of a command wordnet
- 15 A compartment above the seats for stowing luggage in a passenger aircraft. countable, uncountable
"There was no room left in the overheads for our luggage, our seats did not recline, and the washrooms were right behind us."
- 16 The system of overhead wires used to power electric transport, such as streetcars, trains, or buses. countable, uncountable
- 17 Data or steps of computation used only to facilitate the computations in the system and not directly related to the actual program code or data being processed. countable, uncountable
"Network overhead is the header data that is required to route and transport data over the network, whereas fork overhead is the additional time and memory cost of creating and managing new processes within the operating system."
- 18 An overhead throw. countable, uncountable
- 19 A type of bridge, also commonly known as an overpass or flyover, which carries one form of traffic over another. countable, uncountable
Adjective
- 1 Located above, especially over the head.
"Place your luggage in the overhead lockers."
- 2 Kicked over one's own head.
"It was Rooney, however, who produced a moment of inspiration to score a stunning overhead kick that will live forever in the memory of United's fans and extended City's dismal sequence of only one league win in their last 27 visits to Old Trafford."
Adjective
- 1 located or originating from above wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Above one's head; in the sky.
"birds flying overhead"
- 2 Per head; for each individual. archaic
"[…] the influence of the minister's week-day attentions, first in creating, and afterwards in keeping up among the people of his parish their habit of Sabbath attendance. So indispensable in towns is the connexion between these two things, that were seat-rents let down at this moment to two shillings overhead, or even annihilated, so as to throw open the whole of the church room at accessible prices to the lowest of the people, we shall greatly mistake the result if we look for a great and visible increase of attendance per saltum on the part of the parish families."
Adverb
- 1 above the head; over the head wordnet
- 2 above your head; in the sky wordnet
Preposition
- 1 Above.
"Cigarette smoke was sucked out through the cracks in the glass of the glazed panes overhead the side street and the parking lot."
Antonyms
Example
"The helicopter is hovering overhead."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "overhead"?
Common synonyms include: above, aboveground, abovestairs, aerial, aerially, airward.
How do you use "overhead" in a sentence?
The helicopter is hovering overhead.
How do you pronounce "overhead"?
Pronounced /ˈəʊvəˌhɛd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English owerheved, over-hed, over hede (adverb), from Old English oferhēafod (adverb), equivalent to over- + head. Compare German Low German overhoopt, överhoopt, German überhaupt. Piecewise doublet of overchief.
Etymology 2
(Sense 1) Abbreviation of overhead projector. : (Sense 2) Back-formation from overhead projector.