overhead

Meanings

Adjective

• located above, especially over the head
• kicked over one's own head

Noun

• The expense of a business not directly assigned to goods or services provided.
• The items or classes of expense not directly assigned to goods or services provided.
• 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.
• Wasted money.
• A smash.
• The ceiling of any enclosed space below decks in a vessel.
• A compartment above the seats for stowing luggage in a passenger aircraft.
• The system of overhead wires used to power electric transport, such as streetcars, trains, or buses.
• 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.
• An overhead throw.
• An overhead projector.
• A sheet of transparent material with an image used with an overhead projector; an overhead transparency.

Adverb

• Above one's head; in the sky.
• Per head; for each individual.

Origin

• From Middle English owerheved, over-hed, over hede, from Old English oferhēafod, equivalent to over- + head. Compare German Low German overhoopt, överhoopt, German überhaupt.
• : (Sense 1) Abbreviation of overhead projector.
• : (Sense 2) .