Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - overall

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. You use overall to indicate that you are talking about a situation in general or about the whole of something. ...the overall rise in unemployment... Cut down your overall amount of physical activity... ADJ: ADJ n • Overall is also an adverb. Overall I was disappointed... The college has few ways to assess the quality of education overall. ADV: ADV with cl 2. Overalls consist of a single piece of clothing that combines trousers and a jacket. You wear overalls over your clothes in order to protect them while you are working. ...workers in blue overalls. N-PLURAL: also a pair of N 3. Overalls are trousers that are attached to a piece of cloth which covers your chest and which has straps going over your shoulders. (AM; in BRIT, use dungarees) An elderly man dressed in faded overalls took the witness stand. N-PLURAL: also a pair of N 4. An overall is a piece of clothing shaped like a coat that you wear over your clothes in order to protect them while you are working. (BRIT) N-COUNT