nonoverlapping

adjective

non·​over·​lap·​ping ˌnän-ˌō-vər-ˈla-piŋ How to pronounce nonoverlapping (audio)
: not overlapping: such as
a
: not occupying the same area in part
The long, cylindrical body of a gar is covered with hard, diamond-shaped, nonoverlapping scales.Steve Pollick
b
: entirely separate or distinct
nonoverlapping interests
… two separate and nonoverlapping domains of human thought …Marc Gellman

Examples of nonoverlapping in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Of the 30 nonoverlapping three-year periods from 1929 to the end of his presidency, Trump’s periods ranked in the bottom third. Abc News, ABC News, 18 July 2024 Nevertheless, astronomers who study stars and those who study gas work in largely nonoverlapping communities. Ann Finkbeiner, Scientific American, 1 Feb. 2024 This might look like, for instance, covering a curved surface by tiling it with octagons so that there aren’t any gaps between the shapes, which are nonoverlapping. Rachel Crowell, Scientific American, 6 Dec. 2023 Among those, there is probably only a single person who will be discovered almost exclusively by two generally nonoverlapping groups: avid readers of the corpus of Noam Chomsky, and members of the Marine Corps. Patrick Iber, The New Republic, 11 Jan. 2022 If there are several two-dimensional and nonoverlapping wheels, or disks, of equal size, can they all be wrapped (connected) with a taut conveyor belt, such that the belt touches all the wheels but doesn’t intersect itself? Siobhan Roberts, New York Times, 25 June 2021 Doing this across millions of people has meant dividing and polarizing populations into nonoverlapping views of reality. Christopher Mims, WSJ, 31 Aug. 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nonoverlapping.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nonoverlapping was in 1894

Dictionary Entries Near nonoverlapping

Cite this Entry

“Nonoverlapping.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonoverlapping. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

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