overall

From Middle English overall, overal, from Old English ofer eall, ofer ealle (“over all”), equivalent to over +‎ all. Compare Saterland Frisian oural, uural (“everywhere”), West Frisian oeral (“everywhere”), Dutch overal (“everywhere”), German Low German overall, överall (“everywhere; all over”), German überall (“all over; everywhere”), Danish overalt (“everywhere”), Swedish överallt (“everywhere; overall”).

• (UK) (adjective, adverb) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvəɹˈɔːl/
• (UK) (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊvəɹɔːl/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US) (adjective, adverb) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈɔl/
• (US) (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊvɚɔl/
• (cot–caught merger, Inland Northern American) (adjective, adverb) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈɑl/
• (cot–caught merger, Inland Northern American) (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊvɚɑl/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːl

overall (comparative more overall, superlative most overall)

1. All-encompassing, all around.
   • 1949, W. Keith Hancock, Margaret M. Gowing, British War Economy:

     We believe also that a controlled economy cannot be understood without some overall view of the controlling institutions: hence our short studies — shorter by far than the original drafts — of the central administration.

• big, entire, total, whole; see also Thesaurus:entire
• exhaustive, thorough; see also Thesaurus:comprehensive

overall (not comparable)

1. Generally; with everything considered.

   Overall, there is not enough evidence to form a clear conclusion.

• all things considered; see also Thesaurus:mostly

• length overall

overall (plural overalls)

1. (British) A garment worn over other clothing to protect it; a coverall or boiler suit. A garment, for manual labor or for casual wear, often made of a single piece of fabric, with long legs and a bib upper, supported from the shoulders with straps, and having several large pockets and loops for carrying tools.
2. (in the plural, US) A garment, worn for manual labor, with an integral covering extending to the chest, supported by straps.

• overslop
• slop

• “overall”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “overall”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• all over, all-over, allover, valerol

Borrowed from English overall, from over + all.

• IPA^(key): /ɔvɛˈroːl/, /ɔvɛˈral/, /ʊvɛˈroːl/, /ʊvɛˈral/

overall c

1. a coverall

• overall in Nationalencyklopedin (needs an authorization fee).