overhead B2 Topic:Business & Commerce Also spelled over-head US /ˈəʊvəˌhɛd/ UK /ˌəʊvəˈhed/ See IPA manual Freq #9318 Meanings 1 noun regular business costs that are not tied to making one specific product or service Rent and insurance added too much overhead for the tiny studio. 2 adv above one's head; in the sky or higher up A helicopter circled overhead during the rescue. 3 adj located above the head or coming from above The room had harsh overhead lights. 4 noun extra work, memory, or time needed to manage a process rather than do its core task The wrapper adds little overhead to each request. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · regular business costs that... operating costfixed costexpense 2 adv · above one's head; in the... abovealoft 3 adj · located above the head or... upperabove 4 noun · extra work, memory, or time... administrative costextra cost ↔ Opposites belowunderfootdirect cost Word family Derived forms nonoverhead Related forms overhead Common collocations overhead projector Adjective + noun Etymology From Middle English over hede, from Old English oferheafod, literally over the head. The cost sense treats indirect expenses as carried above the main work. Topics Business & Commerce External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # overhead **Type:** Word **Level:** B2 **Part of speech:** noun, adv, adj **IPA (US):** /ˈəʊvəˌhɛd/ **IPA (UK):** /ˌəʊvəˈhed/ **Frequency rank:** 9318 ## Meanings 1. regular business costs that are not tied to making one specific product or service 2. above one's head; in the sky or higher up 3. located above the head or coming from above 4. extra work, memory, or time needed to manage a process rather than do its core task ## Examples - Rent and insurance added too much overhead for the tiny studio. - A helicopter circled overhead during the rescue. - The room had harsh overhead lights. - The wrapper adds little overhead to each request. ## Synonyms - operating cost - expense - above - aloft - extra cost ## Antonyms - below - underfoot - direct cost ## Derived Forms - nonoverhead ## Related Forms - over - head ## Etymology From Middle English over hede, from Old English oferheafod, literally over the head. The cost sense treats indirect expenses as carried above the main work. ## Topics - Business & Commerce markdown