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overhead

 - 8 dictionary results

o⋅ver⋅head

[adv. oh-ver-hed; adj., n. oh-ver-hed]
–adverb
1. over one's head; aloft; up in the air or sky, esp. near the zenith: There was a cloud overhead.
2. so as to be completely submerged or deeply involved: to plunge overhead in water; to sink overhead in debt.
–adjective
3. situated, operating, or passing above, aloft, or over the head: an overhead sprinkler system.
4. of or pertaining to the general cost of running a business: overhead expenses; an overhead charge.
–noun
5. the general, fixed cost of running a business, as rent, lighting, and heating expenses, which cannot be charged or attributed to a specific product or part of the work operation.
6. Accounting. that part of manufacturing costs for which cost per unit produced is not readily assignable.
7. (in a hoistway) the distance between the last floor level served and the beam supporting the hoisting sheaves or machinery.
8. (in racket sports) a stroke in which the ball or shuttlecock is hit with a downward motion from above the head; smash.
9. an overhead compartment, shelf, etc.: Pillows are in the overhead above each passenger's seat.
10. Also called overhead shot. Movies, Television. a shot in which the camera is positioned above the actors, esp. directly overhead.
11. a ceiling light in a room: Turn off the overheads when you leave.
12. Also called overhead projector. a projector capable of projecting images above and behind the person operating it, thus allowing a lecturer or speaker to remain facing the audience while using it.
13. Also called overhead projection. a picture or image projected in this manner: a lecture enhanced with overheads.

Origin:
1425–75; late ME; see over-, head
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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o·ver·head   (ō'vər-hěd')   
adj.  
  1. Located, functioning, or originating from above.

  2. Of or relating to the operating expenses of a business.

n.  
  1. The operating expenses of a business, including the costs of rent, utilities, interior decoration, and taxes, exclusive of labor and materials.

  2. Nautical The top surface in an enclosed space of a ship.

  3. Something, such as a light fixture, that is located above head height.

  4. Sports A stroke in a game, such as tennis or badminton, that is made with a hard downward motion from above the head.

    1. An overhead projector.

    2. The image projected by an overhead projector.

adv.   (ō'vər-hěd')
Over or above the level of the head; high or higher up: look overhead.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

overhead

All costs of running a business other than wages paid to production workers or payments for raw material to be used in production. Overhead includes the cost of renting or leasing a store in which business is transacted, the cost of heating a factory, and similar expenses.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

overhead 
1532, "above one's head" (adv.), from over + head. The adj. is attested from 1874. As a n., short for overhead costs, etc., it is attested from 1914.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

Overhead

A reference in accounting to all costs not including or related to direct labor, materials, or administration costs.

Investopedia Commentary

A very ambiguous term unless a modifier is added. A commonly used expression is manufacturing overhead.

See also: Fixed Cost, Variable Cost

Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
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Financial Dictionary

overhead

See indirect cost.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: over·head
Pronunciation: 'O-v&r-"hed
Function: noun
: business expenses (as rent or insurance) not chargeable to a particular part of the work or product
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Computing Dictionary

overhead
1. Resources (in computing usually processing time or storage space) consumed for purposes which are incidental to, but necessary to, the main one. Overheads are usually quantifiable "costs" of some kind.
Examples: The overheads in running a business include the cost of heating the building. Keeping a program running all the time eliminates the overhead of loading and initialising it for each transaction. Turning a subroutine into inline code eliminates the call and return time overhead for each execution but introduces space overheads.
2. information, such as control, routing, and error checking characters, that is transmitted along with the user data. It also includes information such as network status or operational instructions, network routing information, and retransmissions of user data received in error.
3. Overhead transparencies or "slides" (usually 8-1/2" x 11") that are projected to an audience via an overhead (flatbed) projector.
(1997-09-01)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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