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... above aloft

3 adj · located above the head or... upper above

4 noun · extra work, memory, or time... administrative costextra cost

Opposites

below underfootdirect cost

Word family

Derived forms nonoverhead

Related forms over head

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

overhead projector
a device that projects enlarged images from transparent sheets onto a screen

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

# 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