overall

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔːl

• Audio (US)

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Adjective

overall (comparative more overall, superlative most overall)

1. All-encompassing, all around.
   • 1949, W. Keith Hancock and 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.

Adverb

overall (comparative more overall, superlative most overall)

1. Generally; with everything considered.

(Can we add an example for this sense?)

Noun

overall (plural overalls)

1. (Britain) 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.

Further reading

• overall in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• overall in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

• all over, all-over, allover, valerol

Noun

overall c

1. a coverall