- over
- I [[t]o͟ʊvə(r)[/t]]
POSITION AND MOVEMENT
♦(In addition to the uses shown below, over is used after some verbs, nouns, and adjectives in order to introduce extra information. Over is also used in phrasal verbs such as `hand over' and `glaze over'.)1) PREP If one thing is over another thing or is moving over 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 over the table.
...a bridge over the river Danube.
...helicopters flying low over the crowd.
ADV: ADV after vOver is also an adverb....planes flying over every 10 or 15 minutes.
2) PREP: usu -ed PREP n If one thing is over another thing, it is supported by it and its ends are hanging down on each side of it.A grey mackintosh was folded over her arm...
Joe's clothing was flung over the back of a chair.
3) PREP If one thing is over another thing, it covers part or all of it.His hair fell over his brow instead of being brushed straight back...
Mix the ingredients and pour over the mushrooms...
He was wearing a light-grey suit over a shirt...
He pulled the cap halfway over his ears.
ADV: ADV after vOver is also an adverb.Heat this syrup and pour it over.
4) PREP: v PREP n If you lean over an object, you bend your body so that the top part of it is above the object.They stopped to lean over a gate...
Everyone in the room was bent over her desk.
ADV: ADV after vOver is also an adverb.Sam leant over to open the door of the car.
5) PREP: usu v PREP n If you look over or talk over an object, you look or talk across the top of it.I went and stood beside him, looking over his shoulder.
...conversing over the fence with your friend...
I heard various scraps of conversation over the dinner table.
6) PREP: n PREP n, v PREP n If a window has a view over 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 over the River Amstel...
His rooms looked out over a narrow lane behind the college.
Syn:7) PREP: v PREP n If someone or something goes over a barrier, obstacle, or boundary, they get to the other side of it by going across it, or across the top of it.Policemen jumped over the wall of the Spanish Embassy in pursuit...
I stepped over a broken piece of wood...
Nearly one million people crossed over the river into Moldavia...
He'd just come over the border.
ADV: ADV after vOver is also an adverb.I climbed over into the back seat.
8) PREP If someone or something moves over an area or surface, they move across it, from one side to the other.She ran swiftly over the lawn to the gate...
Joe passed his hand over his face and looked puzzled.
Syn:9) PREP If something is on the opposite side of a road or river, you can say that it is over the road or river....Richard Garrick, who lived in the house over the road.
...a fashionable neighbourhood, just over the river from Manhattan.
Syn:10) ADV: ADV after v, oft ADV to n If you go over to a place, you go to that place.I got out the car and drove over to Dervaig...
I thought you might have invited her over.
11) ADV: ADV after v, oft ADV prep You can use over to indicate a particular position or place a short distance away from someone or something.He noticed Rolfe standing silently over by the window...
John reached over and took Joanna's hand...
He tossed over a cigarette.
12) ADV: ADV after v You use over to say that someone or something falls towards or onto the ground, often suddenly or violently.If he drinks more than two glasses of wine he falls over...
He was knocked over by a bus and broke his leg...
The truck had gone off the road and toppled over.
13) ADV: ADV after v If something rolls over or is turned over, its position changes so that the part that was facing upwards is now facing downwards.His car rolled over after a tyre was punctured...
The alarm did go off but all I did was yawn, turn over and go back to sleep.
14) PHR-PREP All over a place means in every part of it....doctors who work all over the country.
...the letters she received from people all over the world.
15) PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR Over here means near you, or in the country you are in.Why don't you come over here tomorrow evening...
My father was in the U.S. army over here.
16) PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR Over there means in a place a short distance away from you, or in another country.The cafe is just across the road over there...
II [[t]o͟ʊvə(r)[/t]] AMOUNTS AND OCCURRENCESShe'd married some American and settled down over there.
♦1) PREP: PREP amount If something is over a particular amount, measurement, or age, it is more than that amount, measurement, or age.Cigarettes kill over a hundred thousand Britons every year...
I met George well over a year ago.
...equipment costs of over ₤100m.
Syn:more thanADV: amount and ADVOver is also an adverb....people aged 65 and over.
2) PHR-PREP 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 over and above inflation...
Consider supplements over and above this healthy diet.
Syn:in addition to3) ADV: be ADV, n ADV, ADV after v If you say that you have some food or money over, you mean that it remains after you have used all that you need.Larsons pay me well enough, but there's not much over for luxuries when there's two of you to live on it...
Primrose was given an apple, left over from our picnic lunch.
4) ADV: ADV after v If you do something over, you do it again or start doing it again from the beginning. [AM]She said if she had the chance to do it over, she would have hired a press secretary...
Dave, the pianist, played it over a couple of times.
Syn:5) PHRASE: PHR after v (emphasis) If you say that something happened twice over, three times over 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 over for him.
6) PHRASE: PHR after v If you do something over again, you do it again or start doing it again from the beginning. [BRIT]When you realise they are singing the same songs over again, the novelty wears off...
If I was living my life over again I wouldn't have attended so many committee meetings.
7) PHRASE: PHR after v (emphasis) If you say that something is happening all over again, you are emphasizing that it is happening again, and you are suggesting that it is tiring, boring, or unpleasant.He doesn't want the hassle all over again...
The whole process started all over again...
He had to prove himself all over again.
8) PHRASE: PHR after v (emphasis) If you say that something happened over and over or over and over again, you are emphasizing that it happened many times.He plays the same songs over and over...
`I don't understand it,' he said, over and over again.
Syn:again and again, repeatedlyIII [[t]o͟ʊvə(r)[/t]] OTHER USES♦overs1) ADJ: v-link ADJ If an activity is over or all over, it is completely finished.Warplanes that have landed there will be kept until the war is over...
The bad times were over...
I am glad it's all over.
Syn:2) PREP If you are over an illness or an experience, it has finished and you have recovered from its effects.I'm glad that you're over the flu...
She was still getting over the shock of what she had been told.
3) PREP: n PREP n If you have control or influence over someone or something, you are able to control them or influence them.He's never had any influence over her...
For two decades she has sought complete control over her film career...
The oil companies have lost their power over oil price and oil production.
4) PREP: n PREP n, v PREP n You use over to indicate what a disagreement or feeling relates to or is caused by.The women were making a fuss over nothing.
...concern over recent events in Burma...
Staff at some air and sea ports are beginning to protest over pay...
They had already begun fighting over her.
Syn:5) PREP If something happens over a particular period of time or over something such as a meal, it happens during that time or during the meal.The number of attacks on the capital had gone down over the past week...
Many strikes over the last few years have not ended successfully...
Over breakfast we discussed plans for the day.
...discussing the problem over a glass of wine.
6) PREP You use over 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 over the telephone...
The head of state addressed the nation over the radio...
Announcements were made over the loudspeaker system.
Syn:7) PHR-PREP The presenter of a radio or television programme says `over to someone' to indicate the person who will speak next.With the rest of the sports news, over to Colin Maitland.
8) CONVENTION (formulae) 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.9) N-COUNT In cricket, an over consists of six correctly bowled balls.At the start of the last over, bowled by Chris Lewis, the Welsh county were favourites.
English dictionary. 2008.
