Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - over

I. [c red]POSITION AND MOVEMENT Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. Note: 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. 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. ? under PREP • Over is also an adverb. ...planes flying over every 10 or 15 minutes. ADV: ADV after v 2. 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. PREP: usu -ed PREP n 3. If one thing is over another thing, it covers part or all of it. 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. PREP • Over is also an adverb. Heat this syrup and pour it over. ADV: ADV after v 4. 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. PREP: v PREP n • Over is also an adverb. Sam leant over to open the door of the car. ADV: ADV after v 5. 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... PREP: usu v PREP n 6. 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... = onto PREP: n PREP n, v PREP n 7. 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. I stepped over a broken piece of wood... He’d just come over the border. PREP: v PREP n • Over is also an adverb. I climbed over into the back seat. ADV: ADV after v 8. 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. = across PREP 9. If something is on the opposite side of a road or river, you can say that it is over the road or river. ...a fashionable neighbourhood, just over the river from Manhattan. = across PREP 10. 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. ADV: ADV after v, oft ADV to n 11. 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... ADV: ADV after v, oft ADV prep 12. You use over to say that someone or something falls towards or onto the ground, often suddenly or violently. He was knocked over by a bus and broke his leg... The truck had gone off the road and toppled over. ADV: ADV after v 13. 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. ADV: ADV after v 14. All over a place means in every part of it. ...the letters she received from people all over the world. PREP-PHRASE 15. Over here means near you, or in the country you are in. Why don’t you come over here tomorrow evening... PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR 16. 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... She’d married some American and settled down over there. PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR II. [c red]AMOUNTS AND OCCURRENCES Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. 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. PREP: PREP amount • Over is also an adverb. ...people aged 65 and over. ADV: amount and ADV 2. 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... PREP-PHRASE 3. 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. ADV: be ADV, n ADV, ADV after v 4. 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... = again ADV: ADV after v 5. 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. PHRASE: PHR after v c darkgreen]emphasis 6. If you do something over again, you do it again or start doing it again from the beginning. (BRIT) If I was living my life over again I wouldn’t have attended so many committee meetings. PHRASE: PHR after v 7. 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. The whole process started all over again... He had to prove himself all over again. PHRASE: PHR after v c darkgreen]emphasis 8. 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. PHRASE: PHR after v c darkgreen]emphasis III. [c red]OTHER USES Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. 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... I am glad it’s all over. ADJ: v-link ADJ 2. 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. PREP 3. 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... The oil companies have lost their power over oil price and oil production. PREP: n PREP n 4. You use over to indicate what a disagreement or feeling relates to or is caused by. ...concern over recent events in Burma... Staff at some air and sea ports are beginning to protest over pay... = about PREP: n PREP n, v PREP n 5. 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. 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. PREP 6. 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... = on PREP 7. 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. PREP-PHRASE 8. 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. CONVENTION c darkgreen]formulae 9. 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. N-COUNT