overlap
verb
Simple meaning
To lie partly on top of something else.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ohverlapSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈoʊvɚlæp
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Extend over and cover a part of
“The roofs of the houses overlap in this crowded city.”
To co-occur, to happen at the same time.
To have an area, range, character or function in common.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Extend over and cover a part of
Used this way, overlap is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The roofs of the houses overlap in this crowded city.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “overlap in …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: overlap in …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use overlap
- “The roofs of the houses overlap in this crowded city.”verb
- “There was no overlap between their proposals.”noun
- “Our vacations overlap.”verb
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.